GoFundMe has become the ultimate destination for people to raise money for charity, or to provide financial assistance to a friend, family member, or even a stranger. A year ago, many individuals turned to it to help pay for groceries and baby formula due to high inflation. Now, the crowdfunding website is seeing a surge in users trying to collect money to help pay off their student loans.
GoFundMe accounts dedicated to fundraising for student-loan debt surged 40% in October 2023 compared with the previous year, the platform recently revealed. And this increase in student aid-related fundraisers has coincided with the COVID-era federal student-loan payment pause that ended in October.
Interest began accumulating on these loans again Sept. 1, after more than 3 years on pause, and payments resumed in October. Amidst the restart, many of the more than 44 million student loan debtors owing over $1.7 trillion are seeking aid in reducing their debt load.
The average U.S. student-loan borrower is carrying about $37,000 in federal loans. Among them is April Faith, a 30-year-old truck driver living in Chicago, who owes almost 4 times that amount. She turned to GoFundMe to help pay off some of her $150,000 in student loan debt from earning an undergraduate degree in fashion, as well as obtaining a coding boot camp certification.
“My whole career-life, I have been focused on paying off these student loans,” Faith told MarketWatch.
She is among the many GoFundMe users who have created accounts dedicated to obtaining help to pay some of their student debt. Faith launched a GoFundMe page several weeks ago to attempt to tackle her debt, requesting $10,000 of her $150,000 total debt burden.
“The $10,000 is just trying to be a bit generous,” she added.
And she’s not alone. GoFundMe said numerous student loan-related fundraisers have launched on its platform since just this past October. The site facilitates donations for a 2.9% fee per payment, and has facilitated a total of $25 billion in donations since it was founded in 2010.
Crowdfunding sites have already become popular avenues for people struggling with medical debt to ask for help. Even Olympic gymnast and gold medal winner Mary Lou Retton turned to the fundraising platform Spotfund in October for help paying her bill after an extended hospital stay.
It makes sense that people with education-related debt would also turn to crowdsourcing platforms for help. Earlier this year, GoFundMe reported that fundraisers for college tuition were up by more than 50% compared to last year.
“While governmental leaders and local authorities are exploring policy solutions to address the student loan crisis, GoFundMe serves as a resource for people to get the help they need from their friends,
