Organized labor was built on the foundation of creating a pathway to the middle class for everyone, but skyrocketing student loan debt has become an insurmountable obstacle to achieving this goal.

The Biden administration’s decision to continue to pause student debt has made a tremendous difference in the lives of so many borrowers, but these borrowers still live with the uncertainty of not knowing when they will need to drastically alter their finances in order to begin repaying their loans.

Please note that the vast majority of borrowers—nearly 90 percent—are not attending Ivy League or other elite colleges; almost half of borrowers come from public colleges such as your alma mater. They wind up under a mountain of debt not because of financial mismanagement or cavalier behavior on their part, but because of choices at the state level to disinvest in public higher education and shift more of the cost to students.

We know that the majority of the public understands the severity of this crisis, and what it means for the people they love. Even if individuals do not have student loan debt themselves, they do not want their children, grandchildren, and other loved ones to struggle with it. In a recent survey, 65 percent of respondents favored debt cancellation of at least $20,000 per borrower. This wellspring of support gives us hope.