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Volume 3 Number 1 Your Opinion Matters


High Student Debt Threatens Our Nation's Future


Congressional Black Caucus Continues to Energize Conference Attendees


The HBCU Advocate


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.


hits the Black community hard, it so profoundly


And while the student loan crisis affects


our Bernie Sanders and


economy that Democratic Presidential candidates


Elizabeth Warren are 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,


national 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.


Members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other attendees pose after the Phoenix Awards Dinner during the 49th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. Photo by HRM Staff


BY ANGELA JONES held


The Congressional Black Caucus its 49th


Conference in September. As usual, the


conference


Annual offered


special for everyone who attended. From workshops to private receptions, it was difficult to choose which events to attend because the conference was chock full of interesting


options.


Congresswomen Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), spoke at a “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” event that may have been attended by just as many men as women.


In addition to new events,


including a private awards reception hosted by the Haitian embassy, yearly staples


like the Vendor Fair, the


HBCU College Fair, the Black Party, the Prayer Breakfast and the Phoenix Awards Dinner, continued to please the crowd of attendees. Reverend Al Sharpton gave an


Legislative something


inspiring speech as he accepted the Foundation’s Harold Washington Award at the dinner. “If we build economic


entities and


turn these


pension fund investors around; where we quit giving these money managers, all white, our pension funds and they take our money and give ‘em to white developers that gentrify our community. Grandma losing her house. Financing her own removal… we can turn this around,” Sharpton said.


“If I stepped off this stage and


knocked you off of your seat, that’s on me. But if we come back in here next Saturday night, you still laying on the floor, that’s on you,” Sharpton added. “Even if you [are] not responsible for being down, we [are] responsible for getting up… Get up and fight back. Every generation before us fought back.”


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