An Oregon Trail to End Student Debt | The Nation
Oregon Is Moving on a Creative Solution to the Student Loan Debt Crisis. Spread the Word.
Once again, Congress has failed to act and students are suffering. On July 1, the interest rates on federal student loans doubled from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Then, when Senate Democrats attempted a fix that would lower the rate immediately while giving Congress time to work on a more comprehensive plan, Republicans prevented the legislation from even coming to a vote. Although the Senate is now nearing a deal on the issue, Congress's failure to immediately act has revealed the uphill battle we face if the federal governement is ever going to address student debt in a real way.
Despite this, there is hope in the struggle to confront our $1 trillion student debt crisis. After a campaign lead by the state Working Families Party and college students at Portland State University, Oregon recently passed a bill that instructs the state's Higher Education Coordination Commission to develop a "Pay It Forward, Pay It Back" plan to finance public higher education. Under the plan, students pay nothing while in school, then pay a fixed percentage of their income (3 percent after a 4-year degree) to fund higher education going forward. As Katrina vanden Heuvel writes, the idea represents a "huge stride toward putting an end to the crushing debt horror stories which Occupy Wall Street helped to place on the national radar."
Since 2003, the average student loan burden for a twenty-five-year-old with student debt has grown an astounding 93%. With 10% of student loan borrowers owing more than $54,000, many young people are finding large purchases such as a house or car to be nearly impossible. Clearly, the status quo is not sustainable. Write to your state representatives now and implore them to introduce a "Pay It Forward, Pay It Back" plan in your state.
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