Dreams in Debt: How the Racial Wealth Gap Drives Student Lending

Dreams in Debt: How the Racial Wealth Gap Drives Student Lending

Session Type(s): Panel

Starts: Saturday, Aug. 20 2:00 PM (Eastern)

Ends: Saturday, Aug. 20 3:00 PM (Eastern)

Students of color, and in particular Black students, tend to borrow student loans in higher amounts than their peers and borrow more frequently. This is the legacy of the historic and ongoing systemic racism that has created a persistent racial wealth gap, leaving Black and Latino students with less family wealth to draw upon as they pursue their degrees. And after graduation, the disparate impact persists. Almost half of Black graduates owe more on their undergraduate student loans four years after graduation than they did when they received their degree. During this panel, experts on student lending will discuss the student loan crisis—how we got here, the effects on Black wealth in particular, and how to fix it.

Moderator

Jaylon Herbin

Jaylon Herbin is an outreach associate and policy manager for the Center for Responsible Lending. In this role, he focuses on outreach development and student loan debt. He recently served on the Department of Education’s Negotiating Rulemaking Committee; where he served for the consumer advocate and civil rights chair.

His work focuses on ensure that predatory products are not entering the higher education system and does not increase the current burden of student debt. Jaylon, is one of the nation’s champions advocating for student debt cancellation. And that programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) are both fair and inclusive and will offer financial stability and freedom to borrowers of color.

Prior to joining CRL, Jaylon served as the district liaison for Congresswoman Alma Adams, North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District, where he was responsible for stakeholder engagement and policy review through constituent services. Throughout his professional career, Jaylon has cultivated his skills in relationship building, organizing, and advocating to advance policy.


Panelists