Just talking about student loan debt cancelation gives Skyler Pearson chills, and makes her want to cry.
The co-founder and CEO of Nexgarden, a Portland, Oregon, indoor farming startup, she graduated from the University of Oregon in 2013 with just under $50,000 in student loan debt. When she launched her company in 2017, she had no idea how much that debt would tighten her operational budget and limit her access to capital most recently, preempting her from obtaining a $100,000 bank loan to help Nexgarden grow its production capabilities.
So when President Biden took office, Pearson s mind went straight to one of his campaign promises: student debt cancelation. Oh, my god, she recalls thinking. This is a thing that could actually happen.