I am a 50-year-old father of 6, that has more than $90k in student loan debt due to a graduate degree program I completed several years back. I have a good job and like most everyone with student loan debt, been trying to follow all of the changes that have occurred over the past 5 years. I try to follow financial news as it related to the Bond market and interest rates. I try to follow the political news about policy changes happening in the state and federal level. I try to follow the legal cases that are about education programs that have been subject to fines or termination that students had to take loans out in order to participate in the courses. I was all over the place looking at several different sources.

Then a few months ago, I was reading an article about the S.A.V.E. program and how the Trump Administration was working to terminate the program and I realized something extraordinary that I did not hear from any source that I have looked at over the past few years. I did not once see any polls or demographic information about the student loan debt holders themselves. I understand the Federal government privacy of student loan information, but at the same time, not exposing the information keeps many in the shadows of information and limits their ability to make good decisions and limits voting power to help shape policy. There are 44 million Americans with student loan debt equating to $1.8 trillion dollars of debt. Why aren’t their voices being heard or in other words, why are their 44 million voices being suppressed? I hear the opposition voices very clear in social media, but the 12% of the country has no say or power?

Source & notes:

• National Student Loan Data System
• Context/definitions on the FSA Data Center Portfolio page

This is why I created this website and business. My goal is to gather together as many voices as possible I can that have student loan debt in order provide a one-stop shop of information and to push policy changes (using polling data) in order to help users obtain services and products they need to help reduce their debts and prevent others from getting into student loan debt. Inform, organize, and empower is the goal in order to create the shift we need to reduce the overall debt.

So, I ask you to share this website with as many people as possible that have student loans so our voices can be heard.