When we think about student debt, it’s now the largest category, with the exception of mortgages. It’s surpassed credit debt, that is, credit card debt. So I think the thought is, look, the average debtor, with student debt, they’re paying roughly $400 a month, so roughly $4,800 a year. That money itself could go towards other things.

For example, maybe towards rent, maybe towards starting a new business, maybe towards a mortgage. Leading into COVID, we saw roughly 25 percent of borrowers were either late in payment or actually were delinquent in payment.

So there’s a lot riding on this. I think financial health is a big issue, as well as sort of we’re learning more studies about mental health related to the financial consequences of having this burden, which can average 20 to 25 years for many of these student borrowers.

Most: Can you talk briefly about how the current COVID-19 student loan pause may have affected borrowers and how it’s sort of impacting their behavior? Lees verder →