To learn more read this presentation on AAUW’s Public Policy Priorities.
Public Policy Priorities & the Election
Considering How Groups & Candidates Align with Our PPPs Highlight: Student Loan Debt
By Missy Maceyko, Co-Chair Public Policy, AAUW California
At the national and state levels, AAUW has been a leader in the fight for increased economic security for all women, becoming well known for putting out annual data on gender-based wage gaps. However, wage gaps are only one part of the much bigger picture of gender-based economic inequality. AAUW, following contemporary socio-economic research, conceptualizes economic insecurity as part of wealth gaps and debt cycles that are created by multiple factors, including the ballooning cost of higher education.
Education is critically important for social and economic mobility. In 2024, young college graduates still tend to make more money than their counterparts who do not have a college degree and have higher earnings later in life. However, the value of higher education has become a more complicated calculus for many: as education costs have risen, overall income rates have remained stagnant and low interest borrowing and repayment options to cover these costs have, in many cases, decreased. Without intergenerational wealth, ongoing family support, or scholarship wins, many Americans must go into debt to obtain a higher education. Women are disproportionately impacted by these increasing costs.
Women tend to make less money directly after graduation when compared with men. This, combined with additional factors, such as the tendency for women to be burdened with financial and emotional costs of household maintenance, like caregiving, makes any accrued student debt much harder for women to repay. As such, women in the United States owe $929 billion, or two-thirds of the nation’s student debt.
As part of the larger commitment to economic security for women, AAUW has been a leader in pushing for policies that meaningfully address massive increases in the cost of education and the student debt crisis. In California, reducing the cost of education and easing the financial burden of acquiring a degree remains central to AAUW California’s Public Policy Priorities, where work to reduce the burden of student debt falls under three of our four Public Policy Priority Pillars.
The issue of student debt, as an issue of women’s overall educational access, social mobility, and economic security, also looms large in the current election cycle. Addressing student debt issues in ways that align with AAUW’s PPPs may include:
- student debt relief for borrowers,
- making investments in public education,
- expanding federal grant access,
- ensuring the continuation of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which eliminates federal student loan debt after 10 years of work at a non-profit or government agency,
- maintaining Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plans, like SAVE, which take into account unique financial situations and eliminate interest-driven balance increases for borrowers who make on time monthly payments.
Not addressing student debt issues at all or exacerbating these issues does not align with AAUW’s PPPs. Actions taken that are not in alignment may include:
- widespread funding cuts for higher education,
- cutting loan forgiveness programs or slowing their functionality,
- eliminating the Department of Education.
While many candidates have tried to distance themselves from Project 2025, their openly stated and proposed policies may still be in alignment with the 900-page planning document’s positions on the topic of women’s economic security via higher education access and debt relief: Project 2025 calls for changing, rescinding, or repealing federal student loan forgiveness plans, including PSLF and debt relief through IDR.
For additional helpful resources about the 2024 election and other pressing issues, please visit: https://www.aauw-ca.org/documents/2024/10/publicpolicy-news-october-2024.pdf/
Catherine Lewis
San Ramon AAUW
Public Policy Chair