The $2,500 student loan cap denies a deduction to higher-debt black graduates

Evidence

With 28,000 of debt, at that rate and term, the white college graduate will pay a total of 310.86 per month. Of that, roughly 135 will be interest each month during the first year, for a total of 1,622.67 in interest the first year. Because 1,622.67 is less than the 2,500 cap, all interest will be deducted. … With 53,000 of debt, at the same rate and term, the black college graduate will pay 588.41 per month. Of that, roughly 260 will be interest each month during the first year, for a total of 3,071.48 in interest. Because the interest deduction is capped at $2,500, the black student cannot deduct the excess. — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 327

Categorization

• XREF: Works as the concrete mechanism behind the claim that facially neutral caps are race-biased given unequal starting debt.
• SEED: A worked numerical example — white grad deducts all interest, black grad cannot — is exactly the explanation a reader needs when teaching others the mechanism.