According to a report by the American RADAR News website on the 13th local time, a newly disclosed financial report shows that Alexander Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congressman and a popular candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, still owes up to $50,000 in student loans.
This New York state congressman submitted a revised financial disclosure report on August 7th, for the fiscal year of 2025. The report shows that she listed four assets, with the total declared value ranging from $17,004 to $81,000.
Ocaio-Cortez’s highest-value asset is a Union Bank savings account, with a balance between $15,001 and $50,000. Additionally, there is a Gainsight checking account with an amount of $1,001 to $15,000; and a Gainsight brokerage account with an amount of $1 to $1,000.
She also reported a retirement investment conducted through the National Hispano Institute of the United States (NHI), with an asset value ranging from $1001 to $15,000.
The report also reveals that Okaciso-Kortis still owes a considerable sum of student loans.
The creditor she listed is the U.S. Department of Education, with student loan debts ranging from $15,001 to $50,000. The loans were granted from August 2007 to May 2011, and some of these loans are more than twenty years old. Since the Congressional financial disclosure generally reports assets and liabilities in ranges, this document does not disclose the exact amount of debt owed.
Related news has sparked heated discussions among American netizens on social platforms. Many comments criticize student loans in the United States, saying, "It makes one feel deeply sympathetic." "Student loans are the biggest scam in this country."
Some netizens questioned, "Either she is the only poor person in Congress, or she is better at hiding money." Others commented that Ocasio-Cortez deliberately did not pay her student loans, in order to create an image of being "close to the public."
Some netizens sarcastically said, "She is unable to manage finances or repay student loans, yet she claims to have the ability to lead the greatest country in the world."
Ocaquio-Cortes is a well-known "internet celebrity" in the U.S. Congress. She is considered a potential candidate for the Democratic side in the 2028 U.S. presidential elections. Born in 1989, she graduated from Boston University in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in Economics and International Relations.
In 2018, in the Democratic primary elections in New York State, Ocasio-Cortez, a newcomer to politics, unexpectedly defeated the veteran Democratic legislator Joe Crowley. She won the nomination for the Democratic candidate in New York's 14th district and was officially elected as a congresswoman in November of that year, becoming the youngest female congresswoman in U.S. history.
According to NBC, Ocasio-Cortez is now highly popular among Democratic voters and has become an important force in opposing Trump. On August 13, data from the American prediction platform Polymarket showed that Ocasio-Cortez surpassed Rubio to rank second in the 2028 presidential election predictions, with Vice President Biden coming in first place.
