Student Loans

Trump Begins Process Of Dismantling Department Of Education

March 24, 2025 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. Educate! Austerity, Department of Education, Donald Trump, Project 2025, Public Education, Student Loans

On March 20, US President Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of dismantling the Department of Education. The order aims to move education funding from the federal government to the states, and coincides with the plan outlined in Project 2025 by the right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation, which set eliminating the DOE as a goal. The DOE, which, among other objectives, plays a key role in providing funding for impoverished and low income students, students with disabilities, and other underserved students, has been a target of conservatives in the US for decades.

Trump Denies Student Loan Relief To Nonprofit Workers

March 11, 2025 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. Educate! discrimination, Donald Trump, Education, Student Debt, Student Loans, United States

Trump signed an executive order on Friday, March 7, which directs the Education Department to exclude student loan forgiveness for workers at certain organizations which “engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose,” appearing to target some nonprofit groups at odds with his political agenda. Under the new order, workers would be disqualified from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program if the Trump administration deems that their employers violated federal immigration laws, supported “terrorism”, or engaged in so-called “child abuse,” which includes “the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children or the trafficking of children to so-called transgender sanctuary States for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents” – a clear attack on organizations that may support transgender rights.

It’s Up To Us To Demand A Jubilee To Wipe The Debts Of The Masses

October 28, 2024 Braxton Brewington, Truthout. Strategize! Debt, Finance and the Economy, Jubilee, Student Loans

Ahead of another fraught election cycle, 40 million Americans could see their “October surprise” approaching well in advance: a massive student loan bill. When the Biden-Harris administration resumed student debt payments in October 2023 after a nearly four-year pause, they implemented a one-year grace period. This “on ramp” would spare debtors of the harsh consequences of a missed or late payment — such as falling into default, hits to one’s credit, Social Security and wage garnishment or capitalized interest. A year later, those punitive measures have resumed, plunging debtors back into the throes of the student debt crisis.

Student Debt: It’s A System That’s Rigged

July 24, 2024 Maddy Clifford, In These Times. Educate! California, Class Struggle, Debt, Los Angeles, Student Loans

Leimert Park has long been one of the main hubs of Black life in Los Angeles and an innovative foil to the glitz, glam and paparazzi that many associate with the City of Angels. But anyone who knows better knows that LA’s working class, vibrant neighborhoods and excep-tionally creative locals actually make the city run. LA’s Juneteenth celebration emerged from Leimert Park in 1949; Tavis Smiley has production studios there; one of the city’s best haunts for book lovers, Eso Won Books, was there for more than 30 years; genius musicians like John Lee Hooker and Kamasi Washington could be found playing cheap shows at Babe’s and Ricky’s Inn or the World Stage; and Issa Rae used the television show Insecure to draw attention to how special the area is.

Attacks On Student Loan Forgiveness Threaten Millions In The US

June 3, 2023 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. Educate! Debt, Finance and the Economy, Higher Education, Student Loans

US Senators from the Republican and Democrat parties pushed to quickly approve the bipartisan debt ceiling deal on Thursday night, June 1. Republicans, led by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, successfully negotiated severe cuts on government spending in a way that will hurt workers the most out of any class: by kicking millions off of food and health benefits, cutting the IRS making it easier for the wealthy to evade taxes, and officially putting an end date to the current freeze on student loan payments. Senate leaders pushed this bill through to ostensibly to avoid a government default.

US Funneled Billions To Ukraine While Cutting Health And Education

February 26, 2023 People's Dispatch. Educate! Education, Health Care, Joe Biden, Medicare, Russia, Student Loans, Ukraine, US Congress, US Imperialism

February 24 marks the one-year anniversary of the Russia–Ukraine war, and in the past year, the US Congress has approved $113 billion in aid to Ukraine. Meanwhile, working people in the US are in dire economic straits, and desperately need relief from their government. When US President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union Address in early February, over 160 million people—almost half of the nation’s population—reported having trouble paying weekly expenses. The cost of living had jumped by 8% while wages had only increased by 4% in the past year.

Biden’s Student Loan Scam

September 2, 2022 Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Debt, Education, Finance and the Economy, Joe Biden, Student Loans

The Biden administration announcement of so-called student loan debt relief does little to alleviate the problem it claims to solve. Forgiving $20,000 for Pell grant holders and $10,000 for all who earn less than $125,000 is questionable for a variety of reasons. It is a midterm election bait and switch that pleases gullible democrats, helps only a minority of borrowers, and is nothing like what candidate Biden proposed during the 2020 campaign. Americans owe $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. This crisis did not occur by happenstance. Universities did not escape the neoliberal onslaught and are fund raising machines charging astronomical amounts of money for tuition and room and board.

I Went On Strike To Cancel My Student Debt And Won

June 4, 2022 Ann Bowers, In These Times. Organize! Debt Forgiveness, Education, Student Loans, Victory

This week, former students of Corinthian Colleges — a predatory for-profit school that once boasted more than 100 campuses across the country — received news that their student loans will be canceled. In an announcement, a Department of Education (DOE) press release called the move “the largest single loan discharge the Department has made in history.” As a former student of Everest College, which is a branch of Corinthian, I am overjoyed that everyone who attended the scam school will finally be made whole. The action, announced on June 2, will impact 560,000 former Corinthian students and $5.8 in total student debt will be cancelled. This amounts to a stunning victory for debtors who took collective action to win relief.

No Half Measures, We Need Biden To Cancel All Student Loan Debt

May 12, 2022 Frederick Bell Jr., In These Times. Organize! Education, Joe Biden, Student Debt, Student Loans

On September 1, 2021, Hurricane Ida hit Southeast Louisiana, temporarily displacing thousands of New Orleans residents, including myself and most of my family. Residents who had the means evacuated early, leaving others to fight for limited resources while simultaneously seeking refuge in neighboring cities. On top of their pre-existing bills, evacuees were forced to front the costs of hotels, food, gas and repairs or even replacement of their own homes. Natural disasters produce an overwhelming amount of stress and anxiety — you simply don’t know if you will have a house to live in until you are able to return home. I don’t know how my family would have made ends meet if I was forced to cover my monthly student loan payments while struggling to meet these other, unanticipated expenses.

Student Loans Are A Burden For Black Educators

April 7, 2022 Paige Oamek, In These Times. Resist! Chicago, Education, Illinois, Joe Biden, Student Loans

On April 5, the White House announced it is extending the pandemic-era pause on federal student loan payments through August 31. (It had been set to expire on May 2.) The development followed escalating calls for debt cancellation from teachers, students and advocates, including an April 4 protest put on by the Debt Collective, the first union of debtors. The Biden administration’s decision to extend relief was welcomed by advocates but fell short of meeting the demand for permanent loan forgiveness. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), for example, passed a resolution in March calling on President Biden to use his executive power to cancel student debt and “increase spending in our local community.”

DC Protest Calls On Biden To Cancel Student Debt

April 6, 2022 Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams. Resist! Department of Education, Education, Student Loans, Washington D.C.

Washington, D.C. - Hundreds of people converged in Washington, D.C. on Monday for a national day of action to demand that the Biden administration cancel all outstanding federal student loan debt via executive order. "All it takes is a signature," said the Debt Collective, a debtors' union that organized the "Pick Up the Pen, Joe" demonstration, which was supported by a coalition that includes dozens of progressive advocacy groups and labor unions. Following speeches and performances in front of the Eisenhower Memorial, the crowd marched outside the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). Monday's rally and march in the nation's capital had a simple message for President Joe Biden: Use your executive authority to wipe out the roughly $1.6 trillion in federal student debt that is holding back more than 45 million federal borrowers in the United States.

Debt Collective Day Of Action Urges Biden To Cancel Student Debt

April 5, 2022 Jacqui Germain, Teen Vogue. Resist! Department of Education, Higher Education, Student Debt, Student Loans

The Debt Collective is upping the ante in their fight for full federal student debt cancellation with their Pick Up the Pen, Joe! rally and day of action today in front of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC. The event comes roughly a month before the pause on loan repayments is set to expire on May 1. Some White House sources have indicated the Biden administration may move that deadline again or forgive some amount of debt, but regardless, the Debt Collective’s focus remains squarely on eliminating federal student debt in full. A broad coalition of more than 50 community organizations and labor unions from across the country are joining the Debt Collective in the nation’s capital to call on Biden to cancel all federal student debt through executive order.

Biden Faces Rising Pressure On Student Loans With Deadline Looming

April 4, 2022 Alex Gangitano And Aris Folley, The Hill. Educate! Debt, Education, Joe Biden, Student Loans

President Biden is in a difficult position on student loans ahead of the midterms, as pressure builds from borrowers and Democrats for widespread cancellation. Adding to the pressure is a key deadline: On May 1, millions of borrowers will have to pay unless a freeze on federal student loan payments put in place during the pandemic is extended. Biden has been called on to extend the freeze until the next year — beyond the midterms. But advocates for forgiveness, along with key Democrats, want more than another freeze. “We’ve been saying for years now that we need to keep payments on pause until we cancel student debt,” said Natalia Abrams, president and founder of the Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC).

Returning Bankruptcy Protections Is Critical For Solving Student Debt

March 21, 2022 Alan Collinge, Student Loan Justice. Create! Bankruptcy, Education, Finance and the Economy, Student Loans

During the 1700’s, American colonists- including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Morris, and others- were being treated horribly under debt- typically to British banks, trading companies, and other investors. In fact, the issue of debt was so concerning to the nation’s Founders, that that in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, they call for uniform bankruptcy laws ahead of the power to raise an army, declare war, and coin currency. Congress, however, began chipping this protection away, uniquely, from student loans beginning in 1976 and continuing through 2005. Today, both federal and private student loans are essentially impossible to discharge in bankruptcy.

Progressives Hand Biden List Of 55 Executive Actions

March 18, 2022 Jake Johnson, Common Dreams. Resist! Climate Change, Finance and the Economy, Health Care, Joe Biden, Student Loans

The CPC's new list of executive order recommendations is broad in scope, aiming to address a variety of pressing issues including sky-high drug prices, the worsening climate emergency, the coronavirus pandemic, mounting student loan debt, and a rigged tax system—priorities that Biden vowed to tackle on the campaign trail in 2020. While Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the CPC chair, has said she would prefer ambitious legislation such as the Build Back Better package to more limited executive orders, that bill is dead in the Senate due to opposition from Republicans and corporate-backed Democrats such as Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), leaving the president with few other options to advance his popular agenda.

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