Informing, organizing, and empowering student loan borrowers to shape their own futures. How?:

Like many of you, I have tens of thousands of dollars of student loans that I acquired for getting my graduate degree. I have been making payments but like most, my income only provides me the ability to make minimum payments because of my family obligations. The house, car, and kids tie up my income. And over the past years with multiple White House administrations there have been multiple proposals to help and then reduce the help for loan borrower. Watching the news, I am frustrated and annoyed that politicians refuse to come up with a united solution to help struggling borrowers.

But then I read about the below article of Iowa lawmakers voted to hold state universities liable for any of their students that default on their loans. One party that controls the legislature voted to pass the legislation and questioned why put the responsibility of student loan defaults on the universities. It did not sound like the lawmakers did not do enough research to understand the causes of the defaults, but schools should hold some responsibility, if they encouraged students to borrow more than they are able to responsibly pay back. But also, I believe it is the state’s responsibility to make collegiate education affordable. In some states, working for their governments for a certain time period, the governments will pay for some of the student loans. Do you know how your state helps student loan borrowers or the programs they enacted to support or target borrowers?

State universities would be liable for part of defaulted student loans under House bill • Iowa Capital Dispatch

I constantly stress in personal conversations with borrowers that your vote matters, both at the federal level and at the state level. States have the tools to help find solutions to helping borrowers or holding state universities accountable to encouraging students to borrow more than they are able to pay back in the future.

I live in Utah and so I did some research on any actions the Utah legislature has taken over the last ten years to help or hurt student loan borrowers or created any programs to help students avoid taking out student loans for their education. I found out that Utah has an impressive resume on legislative actions. In 2019, the Promise Scholarship was created from a $300 million endowment to help low-income students cover tuition. In the same year, Utah passed the Promotion of Student Loan Forgiveness Programs Act and converted a teacher loan forgiveness program into a scholarship and launched the Utah Promise need-based scholarship. In 2023, the Legislature approved $1.7 million to expand the Health Care Workforce Financial Assistance program, offering to pay down student loans for health providers serving rural and underserved communities. So, in short, the state legislature has done a decent job creating programs to help student loan borrowers and Utahn’s looking for an education, avoid taking out student loans. But I know more can be done because too many are still suffering that do not fall into the targeted constituents. And we all know by now, state and federal legislation only target to the voters of the majority in this hyper partisan era instead of collaboration between all parties.

I thought of a few suggestions for Utah or any state lawmakers:

1. Provide a higher state tax credits or deductions for student loan payments that increases with inflation.
2. Create a state-funded repayment assistance program or forgiveness program to residents in high-need field, besides health care.
3. Create a statewide student loan borrower Bill of Rights to include mandatory licensing of student loan servicers and penalties for steering borrowers into costlier repayment plans.
4. Tightly regulate private student loan practices including caps on interest rates or loan fees and providing clearer disclosures.

What has your state done to help borrowers? Do some research. There is always more work that can be done. Do your research on your state Legislators or candidates running for office and find out what they want to do to help borrowers. You have AI now so there is absolutely no excuse. Contact those in office and let them know your concerns. If you do not hear back, then use your vote as encouragement for them to act and encourage others like you in your state to do the same.

Do not just sit there mumbling to yourself and be acted on by your government. Do something about it.