Starting today, Rolling Jubilee is pivoting to the student loan crisis. On the third anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, Rolling Jubilee has announced its purchase of $3.85 million worth of student debt from Everest Colleges, a portfolio they bought for only $100,000. Everest is part of the troubled for-profit chain Corinthian Colleges, which effectively went out of business this summer after the Department of Education withheld federal loan funds for 21 days. The company has been the subject of numerous investigations from attorneys general across the country and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which announced a $500 million lawsuit against Corinthian on Tuesday.
This past week was a happy one for Goldman and the more than 2,700 students whose debt was erased by Rolling Jubilee. But for the group’s members, these tactics are less a solution to student debt, which reached $1.2 trillion this year, and more an opportunity to raise consciousness about the crisis and politicize student debtors to rally around a common cause.
“This isn’t just a stunt or a spectacle,” said Astra Taylor, 34, a member of Rolling Jubilee who has $45,000 in student loans. “This isn’t a long-term plan, either. The point is to touch people where they are, and try to create a political awareness out of that.”
