[View the story "Indebted students in the red" on Storify ]Indebted students in the red US university students feel pressure from mounting debt. Storified by The Stream · Tue, Jul 10 2012 09:20:46
On July 1, the United States Congress passed a bill that maintains low, 3.4 per cent interest rates on federally subsidised student loans. Anticipation of the bill gave a new surge to US students' frustrations with the educational debt crisis. It passed just ahead of a looming deadline that would have seen interest rates double.
The Student Loan Crisisfeeseminars
Published tuition and fees at public universities have skyrocketed in the last decade, partially because of the over-availability of loan money. More students are borrowing money and able to afford school, prompting colleges to increase their tuition to raise the perceived value of their degree programs.
The College BoardAJstream
This market went through the same boom and bust cycle we saw play out in markets for mortgages and other credit products.Our initial findings on the size of the private student loan market are sobering. When we add in the outstanding debt in the federal student loan program, it appears that outstanding student loan debt hit the trillion dollar mark several months ago
US students organised in protest of the trillion-dollar mark. Progressive policy group
Campus Progress declared June 6 as #studentdebtday. They encouraged students to lobby their congressional representatives in order to express their frustration with the current state of affairs.
RT @progress2050: Student loan debt now totals $1trillion. #studentdebtday @campusprogress http://pic.twitter.com/N0RTbQ9mCampus Progress
Participating in the @campusprogress #StudentDebtDay on Capitol Hill this morning to tell the Senate not to let Stafford Loans increaseTyler Sadonis
Leading up to the deadline for legislation, President Barack Obama called for youth to organise on Twitter using the hashtag #Dontdoublemyrate. Here, after the success of the bill, students and supporters share their feelings of vindication:
Why Your Voice Matters - #Dontdoublemyratewhitehouse
@BarackObama was right when he said one voice can change a room. Students said #DontDoubleMyRate & congress listened. http://youtu.be/YjOrVrM1GuMutaustinliberal
Graduated in 2009 w/$55k of student loan debt. this should not be the new normal. #studentdebtday #dontdoublemyrateRachel Pike
"a college education is an economic necessity..." -@barackobama <- indeed. #dontdoublemyrateDonald A. Hughes
With one stroke of the pen, 7 million students avoided $6 billion in new debt. #DontDoubleMyRateRep. Joe Courtney
Although this has been viewed as a triumph, the US government will no longer cover interest rates on loans during the six-month 'grace period' after graduation. Many other funding concerns remain unaddressed by the legislation. It does not, for example, tackle key issues of high student default rates, predatory private loan practices, or artificially high tuition costs.
We all need to understand better and address a number of concerns, such as rapidly rising defaults in the for-profit college sector and high borrowing to gain training in fields with limited opportunities post-graduation. We also need to find methods to get struggling borrowers into alternate payment programs quickly so they can avoid default.
HR4170,
the Student Loan Forgiveness Act , introduced by
Representative Hansen Clarke (D-MI), attempts to address some of these concerns. The measure proposes allocating more government funds to help faithful loan borrowers with their payments. It also gives financial incentive for borrowers who enter public service professions, and provides channels for converting private loan debt to federal debt.
HansenClarke.house.govAJstream
These student loans are outrageous. We need help just like Wallstreet. We are the future the of America. #StudentDebt #HR4170Mel Mills™
Student loans are a way to deter the 99% from furthering their education, solidifying the gap between economic classes. Support #HR4170Lauren Reche'
Members of the US Occupy movement say that a solution cannot come from a political system they describe as
'structurally incapable' :
That fool Obama now is giving the kids breaks on their student loans. Those colleges with just raise their tuition even more. @cspanwj #owsBIG GUNS
Just realized- one of these dinner plates at this Romney fundraiser would completely pay off my student debt. #KochParty #owsOccupy Eye
the debt relief being pushed by the Obama administration is a token gesture, aimed at getting some traction on the youth vote–especially the more disillusioned or alienated student constituencies. Recent bills introduced in Congress–Student Loan Forgiveness Act (H.R. 4170) and the Private Student Bankruptcy Fairness Act (H.R. 2028)–have zero chance of passing in anything like their current form. Practically speaking, no reform program of any substance is on the legislative horizon, least of all one that would regulate the predatory lending practices of Wall Street banks.
#TheInvisibleArmyofDefaulters say . . . #strikedebt#ows http://pic.twitter.com/Jn4Dc8IwTidal
The call comes amid wider requests for free public education in the US. However, new borrowers are still eager to earn a degree under the existing system, and current borrowers may not be willing to risk default themselves. It remains unclear how a mass-debt strike, particularly on federal loans, would impact the existing relationship between student financial contributions and government subsidies.
RT @joannafrye: Wow, major shift in public #highered funding from gov. to student since 2001 via @GlobalHigherEd (infographic) http://twitpic.com/a33w6nGlobalHigherEd
The frustration of US students has manifested in different ways through protest and lobbying. Still, others continue to take on new debt in order to obtain their degrees.
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