WASHINGTON — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has made no less than $174,000 yearly for practically eight years as a member of Congress, however like lots of her “Squad” colleagues, she has but to place a considerable dent in her pupil mortgage debt, in line with Home monetary disclosures.
The Bronx and Queens Democrat has owed between $15,001 and $50,000 in federal pupil mortgage debt since her election to the Home in 2018. That’s the identical quantity she owes now, in line with her August disclosure, the place lawmakers report ranges for debt and earnings.
The “Tax the Wealthy!” pol reported lower than $81,000 in complete property.
Just lately, Ocasio-Cortez has urged that she’d been saving up for a while as a substitute to freeze her eggs, a course of that may price between $10,000 and $20,000 per cycle.
“I received sworn into the Home of Representatives after I was 29 years previous,” she mentioned in an Instagram video. “There’s this flip aspect the place it’s important to then develop up within the public eye in a time that most individuals normally get to develop extra privately.”
Ocasio-Cortez amassed the loans whereas attending Boston College as a global relations and economics main between August 2007 and Could 2011 — and went on to have a tendency bar in Manhattan earlier than her profitable run for Congress.
The “Squad” Democrat has persistently backed pupil debt cancellation. Throughout former President Joe Biden’s time period, she even pushed the forty sixth commander-in-chief to cancel as a lot as $50,000 in debt per pupil borrower. However she’s not the one US lawmaker who’s nonetheless holding pupil loans.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has held as much as $50,000 over the previous eight years in pupil debt — regardless of her internet price ballooning for a time to as a lot as $30 million as a result of her husband’s vineyard and enterprise capital companies.
Not all her colleagues who entered the identical freshman class of 2018 have did not repay their pupil money owed.
Fellow “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) had as much as $100,000 in legislation college loans which have been partially paid off in the identical time interval — however might nonetheless quantity to as a lot as $50,000 too, per Home disclosures.
In the meantime, reasonable Rep. Jared Golden (R-Maine) equally held as much as $100,000 in excellent pupil debt however paid off no less than half of it by his final Home submitting.
Early in his time period, Biden expressly rejected writing off as much as $50,000 in excellent pupil mortgage debt, incomes AOC’s ire.
“Total generations of working class youngsters have been inspired to enter extra debt underneath the guise of elitism. That is incorrect,” she mentioned in February 2021. “Nowhere does it say we should trade-off early childhood training for pupil mortgage forgiveness. We will have each.”
“We’ve received the Senate Majority Chief on board to forgive $50k. Biden’s holding again, however lots of the arguments in opposition to it simply don’t maintain water on shut inspection,” she added, criticizing decrease proposed debt cancellations of $10,000 or so.
Ocasio-Cortez and different Home Democrats additionally pushed for years for laws to get rid of pupil debt, a well-liked 2020 marketing campaign pledge that Biden tried to implement earlier than his administration was overruled by the Supreme Courtroom in June 2023.
That would have price taxpayers as a lot as $430 billion over a decade-long interval. Different plans Biden floated within the wake of its failure might have price as much as $475 billion.
“It is rather vital to notice this SCOTUS ruling does NOT take away Biden’s capacity to pursue pupil mortgage forgiveness,” Ocasio-Cortez posted after the 2023 resolution. “The Biden Admin can use the HEA (Larger Ed Act) – our place from the beginning – to proceed mortgage forgiveness earlier than funds resume. They need to achieve this ASAP.”
Ocasio-Cortez has additionally identified that the federal government received’t foot the invoice for her voluntary resolution to freeze her eggs both — however neither she nor different Home Democrats have submitted payments but in search of taxpayer-funded protection for the procedures.
The potential 2028 presidential hopeful additionally rejected that her personal political ambitions influenced her resolution to freeze her eggs at age 36 — whereas refusing to reply The Submit’s questions about whether or not she was nonetheless engaged to beau Riley Roberts.
The egg-harvesting course of may be pricey however permits girls to retailer unfertilized eggs from their ovaries at sub-zero temperatures for years earlier than they’re able to be implanted.
“It is a selection that I’m making to really feel extra accountable for my life,” she instructed her followers. “And if individuals wish to make assumptions about my resolution, allow them to make these assumptions. I really feel empowered to make this selection.”
Preliminary seek the advice of charges can vary from the a whole lot of {dollars} whereas the precise egg-freezing cycle price hundreds, along with as much as $1,000 yearly for storage.
A 2025 examine printed in Fertility and Sterility discovered girls underneath the age of 40 who froze their eggs had growing success charges by way of being pregnant based mostly on the variety of eggs saved, with 20 or extra eggs recording an 81.8% success price.
Reps for Ocasio-Cortez didn’t reply to a request for remark.
