SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
From Original 15 to More Than 80, Student Loan Strike Numbers Grow
'It’s been a month since 15 former students of the failing for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges said they would not pay a dime of their student loans because the school broke the law.'
Mar 31, 2015
From an original group of 15 individuals no longer willing to pliantly suffer under the crushing financial burden created by the costs of higher education, the movement challenging that nation's student debt epidemic has now grown to more than 80 people who say they will stop making loan payments in protest of the predatory practices of for-profit colleges and the larger student loan model.
As the Washinton Post's Danielle Douglas-Gabriel reports:
Remember those 15 people who refused to repay their federal student loans? Their "debt strike" has picked up 85 more disgruntled borrowers willing to jeopardize their financial future to pressure the government into forgiving their student loans.
And the government is starting to listen. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has invited the group to Washington on Tuesday to discuss their demand for debt cancellation. Although the CFPB doesn't have the power to grant that request, the agency's overture shows that the strike is being taken seriously.
It's been a month since 15 former students of the failing for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges said they would not pay a dime of their student loans because the school broke the law.
As their numbers are growing, members of the Debt Collective, which is organizing the campaign, have been in Washington, DC this week to meet with lawmakers, members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Education. The group expressed desire to get an audince with Education Secretary Arne Duncans to press their case and advocate on behalf of others, but that meeting seems unlikely.
"It's in the [DOE's] interest to discuss this," Luke Herrine, a Debt Collective organizer, told the Washington Post. "I don't think they want more than 100 students refusing to pay their loans publicly. I don't think that's a good thing for them."
Earlier this month, Hollie Chaffee and other members of the original Corinthian 15, came together in this video to explain why they're striking their loans and why the movement to change how we finance higher education in America is such a vital issue--not only for them personally--but for students worried about the rising costs of college and the worrisom amounts of debt that have become the norm.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
From an original group of 15 individuals no longer willing to pliantly suffer under the crushing financial burden created by the costs of higher education, the movement challenging that nation's student debt epidemic has now grown to more than 80 people who say they will stop making loan payments in protest of the predatory practices of for-profit colleges and the larger student loan model.
As the Washinton Post's Danielle Douglas-Gabriel reports:
Remember those 15 people who refused to repay their federal student loans? Their "debt strike" has picked up 85 more disgruntled borrowers willing to jeopardize their financial future to pressure the government into forgiving their student loans.
And the government is starting to listen. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has invited the group to Washington on Tuesday to discuss their demand for debt cancellation. Although the CFPB doesn't have the power to grant that request, the agency's overture shows that the strike is being taken seriously.
It's been a month since 15 former students of the failing for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges said they would not pay a dime of their student loans because the school broke the law.
As their numbers are growing, members of the Debt Collective, which is organizing the campaign, have been in Washington, DC this week to meet with lawmakers, members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Education. The group expressed desire to get an audince with Education Secretary Arne Duncans to press their case and advocate on behalf of others, but that meeting seems unlikely.
"It's in the [DOE's] interest to discuss this," Luke Herrine, a Debt Collective organizer, told the Washington Post. "I don't think they want more than 100 students refusing to pay their loans publicly. I don't think that's a good thing for them."
Earlier this month, Hollie Chaffee and other members of the original Corinthian 15, came together in this video to explain why they're striking their loans and why the movement to change how we finance higher education in America is such a vital issue--not only for them personally--but for students worried about the rising costs of college and the worrisom amounts of debt that have become the norm.
From an original group of 15 individuals no longer willing to pliantly suffer under the crushing financial burden created by the costs of higher education, the movement challenging that nation's student debt epidemic has now grown to more than 80 people who say they will stop making loan payments in protest of the predatory practices of for-profit colleges and the larger student loan model.
As the Washinton Post's Danielle Douglas-Gabriel reports:
Remember those 15 people who refused to repay their federal student loans? Their "debt strike" has picked up 85 more disgruntled borrowers willing to jeopardize their financial future to pressure the government into forgiving their student loans.
And the government is starting to listen. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has invited the group to Washington on Tuesday to discuss their demand for debt cancellation. Although the CFPB doesn't have the power to grant that request, the agency's overture shows that the strike is being taken seriously.
It's been a month since 15 former students of the failing for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges said they would not pay a dime of their student loans because the school broke the law.
As their numbers are growing, members of the Debt Collective, which is organizing the campaign, have been in Washington, DC this week to meet with lawmakers, members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Education. The group expressed desire to get an audince with Education Secretary Arne Duncans to press their case and advocate on behalf of others, but that meeting seems unlikely.
"It's in the [DOE's] interest to discuss this," Luke Herrine, a Debt Collective organizer, told the Washington Post. "I don't think they want more than 100 students refusing to pay their loans publicly. I don't think that's a good thing for them."
Earlier this month, Hollie Chaffee and other members of the original Corinthian 15, came together in this video to explain why they're striking their loans and why the movement to change how we finance higher education in America is such a vital issue--not only for them personally--but for students worried about the rising costs of college and the worrisom amounts of debt that have become the norm.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.