- The National Education Association found 42% of teachers with over a decade of experience still have student debt.
- 45% of all teachers have student debt, hindering their ability to build up emergency savings.
- This debt is putting retirement in jeopardy for both older teachers and teachers aged 18-35.
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President Joe Biden has canceled about $8.7 billion in student debt to date, but the $1.7 trillion student debt crisis continues to grow – and it's hurting teachers.
The National Education Association released a report examining the impact of student debt on educators, and it found that 45% of teachers have taken out a student loan to fund their own education, and 42% of those with 11 or more years of experience still have not fully paid them off. According to the report, while nearly 40% of that group has a debt balance standing at less than $25,000, 14% reported having a balance of at least $105,000 to pay off. The average debt load for experienced educators stands at $56,500, which is roughly the national average annual salary for teachers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The report said the outstanding student debt balances teachers hold are thanks to the "astronomical" increases in student debt each year, and "stagnant wages and increasing wage gaps-compared to other professions-have made it increasingly challenging to pay down debts."
And for older teachers and younger teachers alike, student debt is putting retirement plans in jeopardy. Two-thirds of teachers aged 61 and older said paying off their student debt has affected their ability to save for retirement, with half of the youngest teachers, aged 18-35, reporting the same thing.
Other main findings from the report include:
- 65% of teachers aged 18-35 have taken out student loans, compared to the 27% aged 61 and older;
- One in five Black teachers have a student debt balance of at least $105,000 and owe on average $13,000 more than white teachers;
- 59% of teachers said student debt hindered their ability to build up emergency savings;
- And 40% of teachers were likely to skip routine medical appointments because of their student debt.
"No segment of educators is immune from the burden of student loan debt-not young educators, not older and more experienced educators, and certainly not educators of color," the report said.
Teachers qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which forgives student debt for public servants after 120 months of qualifying payments. But, as Insider previously reported, PSLF is flawed and continues to reject 98% of applicants, warranting reform.
The report recommended the Education Department take immediate action to cancel student debt for teachers who have served for at least a decade, along with enacting broad student-debt cancellation of $50,000 per borrower.
Biden promised during his campaign to reform PSLF and doing so is on the department's regulatory agenda, but actually implementing those reforms could take years. That's why, in the meantime, many Democrats, led by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are pushing for Biden to use his executive powers to cancel $50,000 in student debt - something the Education and Justice Departments have been reviewing for months.
"The president has the power to cancel $50,000 in student loan debt right now," Warren previously told Insider. "Senator Schumer and I are going to continue to push for this, but Biden doesn't need any authorization from Congress. He needs to pick up the pen and do it himself."