October 2019


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com Your Opinion Matters


High Student Debt Threatens Our Nation's Future


Virginia Announces Expanded Partnership for REAL IDs to Returning Citizens


The Hampton Roads Messenger 5


BY DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX


The student debt crisis in our country is worsening. If nothing is done, its size threatens our nation's future. Young people saddled


with


student debt often postpone adult decisions, like purchasing homes or getting married, hoping to start "real life" with a clean slate. When these folks delay buying homes, they also postpone the purchase of everything that goes with home ownership – furniture,


appliances, and more.


Millions boomerang home, living with their parents into their late twenties, or even longer. Some default on their loans, ruining their credit, and impeding other purchasing.


How bad is it? Student debt in


our country totals almost $1.6 trillion in 2018, $521 billion more than credit card debt. More than two-thirds of all students take out student loans, with an average debt of $29,800. A total of nearly 45 million Americans have student loan debt. And if it is bad for the overall population, it's worse for African American students, who recently graduated with $37,000 in debt, more than $7,000 more than the overall


average. According to


Ashley Harrington, of the Center for Responsible Lending, 85 percent of all African American graduates carried student loan debt in 2016, compared to the 2016 overall average of 68 percent. "Black students take out more loans and often take longer to pay them back", she said. The result? A decade after college


graduation, This is not at all African American African


Americans who had student loan debt owe twice as much as their white counterparts.


median


surprising. incomes


are lower than white incomes. African American wealth is less a small fraction of white wealth. African American unemployment rates are higher than white rates, even for college graduates. On average, African Americans are stuck at the economic periphery, with every indicator showing Black folks lagging others in our economy.


And while the student loan crisis


hits the Black community hard, it so profoundly affects our national economy that Democratic Presidential candidates


Bernie Elizabeth Warren are


Sanders and getting major


traction from their plans to reduce or eliminate student loan debt. Indeed, Sanders gets more support among those in the 18-34 age group than any of his competitors (Biden gets little support from younger people,


and Warren garners vocal a healthy 25


percent from young people in recent polls), partly because he has been extraordinarily


in addressing


student loan debt. The presidential candidates have


not been the only ones, who have expressed concern about the heavy burden of student loan debt. Congress implemented the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program as part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. After paying a percentage of their income for 120 consecutive months, public servants like teachers and firefighters, and people who work for nonprofit organizations, could qualify to have the remainder of their loan forgiven. From the legislation, the first to receive loan forgiveness would get it in 2017. By March of 2019, however, fewer than one thousand people (of 55,000 that applied) were granted loan forgiveness. This is


mostly attributable Department to sloppy


administration of the program by the current


of Education.


Indeed, the current administration has proposed eliminating the forgiveness program. Congressman Robert "Bobby" Scott, the Virginia Democrat who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, held hearings on this matter. Witnesses cited conflicting information


that they received,


payments that were not credited so that the loan relief that they expected has not been forthcoming.


The heavy student loan debt


that Black students carry broadens an already wide wealth gap. Besides race, it also broadens the class inequities that exist in our society. Access to affordable higher education is one of the ways to narrow gaps, but the keyword is affordability. Both the federal and state governments have decreased their investments in higher education. The maximum Pell grant amount, at $6195, does not cover the cost of tuition at a four year college, not to mention the cost of attendance (tuition, room, and board).


While high student loan debt may


be debilitating for the individuals who incur it, it is essential also to note that this debt has an impact on our nation's economic futures. If we think that education is critical, then we must take steps to make it more affordable. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders get rousing cheers when they talk about forgiving student loan debt. It's time to turn talk into action.


Photo courtesy of Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) BY GOVERNOR.VIRGINIA.GOV RICHMOND—The State of


Virginia announced that the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC) will partner to offer REAL ID-compliant identification cards to returning citizens at all DOC facilities in the Commonwealth. DMV Connect mobile operations teams that serve Virginia’s prison populations began providing the expanded services yesterday, October 1, 2019, which marks one year until the federal law goes into effect requiring a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or ID, or another approved form of identification such as a passport, for domestic travel or access to secure federal facilities.


“A state-issued ID can be the


key to finding opportunity after incarceration, from connecting with social services, to opening a bank account, getting a job, securing stable housing, and pursuing an education,” said Governor Northam. “We are fully committed to ensuring returning citizens have access to the support they need to successfully reintegrate into society, and having identification that is REAL ID-compliant will be a valuable tool in reducing recidivism and helping them start out on a positive path upon release.”


“More than 650,000 Virginians have already obtained a REAL ID at their local DMV,” said Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine. “Expanding access to REAL ID for returning citizens is important because it creates an opportunity for them to secure employment and become contributing members of society.”


“I am proud to see DMV and


DOC working together to improve upon an already strong partnership,” said Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran. “For years, returning citizens have been able to leave every Commonwealth of Virginia correctional facility with an ID. Now, thanks to the work of these two agencies, they’ll be able to receive an upgraded REAL ID-compliant credential should they need it.”


Since 2012, DMV Connect teams


have visited every DOC facility to process applications for identification cards for offenders nearing release,


issuing more than 28,000 state IDs. The teams use


portable equipment


that fits inside a suitcase and contains everything they need to process a credential transaction, including taking a new photograph. In addition


to


serving DOC facilities, DMV Connect also provides service at Department of


Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities,


as well as federal prisons, sheriff’s offices, and regional jails.


program inspired DMV to integrate additional into


The popularity and ease of the DMV Connect teams


its overall providing service communities, full DMV service


model, at


locations where customers frequent such as shopping centers, libraries, retirement


military


bases, government centers, and more. DMV currently has eight Connect teams stationed in all corners of the Commonwealth.


“This new facet of our partnership


with DOC further expands access to REAL ID, supporting DMV’s mission of providing secure credentials and superior service to all Virginians,” said DMV Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb. “The genesis of our DMV Connect program was ID card services for offenders, and it’s only fitting that we provide these customers with our most in-demand service, the REAL ID.”


“Soon-to-be-released offenders are grateful to be able to obtain an ID before they return to their communities—it is one less item in a long checklist of tasks they need to accomplish upon their release,” said DOC Director Harold W. Clarke. “We are delighted that they can now get a REAL ID so they’ll have the identification they will need for federal purposes and not experience any added barriers to their second chances.”


established


The 2005 REAL national


ID Act guidelines


for cards accepted as proof of identification for federal purposes. Some Virginia military bases may no longer accept non-REAL ID compliant identification displaying “Federal Limits Apply.”


To learn more about REAL ID, visit dmvNOW.com/REALID.


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