Data Highlighted on Over 1.6 Million Los Angeles Borrowers With $70.7 Billion in Student Debt
As the national student debt crisis intensifies, advocacy groups met on December 8 for a community roundtable discussion on the harmful impact that $70.7 billion in total student debt has on over 1.6 million local borrowers and their families. The Community Investment for Families Department, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Student Debt Crisis Center, Young Invincibles, and Protect Borrowers convened the event and provided data on the economic hardship and precarity facing borrowers in Los Angeles and across the state. Together, community members discussed how California leaders can take action at the local and state levels to combat the student debt crisis.
The roundtable and data come as borrowers across California face economic hardship and an impending student loan default cliff, the Trump Administration’s new rule restricting Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and widespread chaos across the student loan landscape.
“A college education should strengthen a person’s economic stability, yet rising student debt is limiting those opportunities. We must reform student loan programs to make higher education more affordable and accessible for all, especially for low-income first-generation college students," said Community Investment for Families Department General Manager Abigail R. Marquez."Student debt has become a burden that perpetuates financial hardship in Los Angeles and beyond, with more than one in six adults in our region carrying student loan debt that hinders their future and their families’. It’s critical that we champion real financial relief and empower students to pursue their goals and build lasting economic stability.”
“In 2026, hundreds of thousands of California student loan borrowers will fall off the student loan ‘default cliff,’” said Robyn Smith, Senior Attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. “Providing free student loan assistance to Californians has never been more necessary to ensure that these borrowers and their families avoid wage garnishment, income tax refund seizures, and other consequences likely to cause severe financial hardship.”
The highlighted released data also underscores the profound impact of racial and gender disparities of the crisis locally:
- Delinquent student debt has increased by 385.2% over the past year
- Women owe a majority of the local total student debt, shouldering $46.6 billion
- 92,799 Los Angeles student loan borrowers are severely delinquent