Posted on 11/22/2011 3:53:24 AM PST by Cardhu
A number of student organizers in the US have unveiled what they call an 'Occupy Student Debt' campaign, urging borrowers across the country to default on their college loans.
The campaign was made public Monday afternoon in New York's Zuccotti Park, where the national Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement emerged, the Huffington Post reported.
“Since the first days of the Occupy movement, the agony of student debt has been a constant refrain,” said Andrew Ross, a professor at New York University and an active OWS member, while addressing a crowd in the park
“We've heard the harrowing personal testimony about the suffering and humiliation of people who believe their debts will be unplayable in their lifetime,” Ross said.
Meanwhile, the campaigns “beliefs” or objectives were announced during the rally.
The student movement has four major objectives, apart from convincing all students to default on their loans, a move for which they have collected one million signatures in a petition.
They want student loans to be interest-free, tuitions at public institutions to be federally funded, students' debt to be written off and financial records of for-profit and private institutions to be made public.
“I see my students who have to work not only one but two jobs just to afford our relatively reasonable tuition rates,” said Ashley Dawson, an associate professor at the City University of New York.
“For students faced with debt, this campaign is important because it will help provide them with a collective organizing vehicle,” Dawson said.
The campaign emerged as an offshoot of the OWS, which has now spread across major US cities as well as many capitalist countries in the world.
Members of the OWS movement have for the past two months been protesting against corporate greed, unemployment, corruption and poverty in the United States.
Tripe. These idiots knew going in exactly what the deal was. Let’s look at the loan papers. Bet every one of them have the student’s signature. Don’t want to pay it back? Don’t apply for it. These OWS’ers are the worst of the worst. Everday now we are seeing more and more protests by these imbiciles. Sickening.
I agree that college tuition costs are out of reason and inflating out of control. However, no one has ever forced a student to make a Student Loan. If you make the deal, live up to it.
““Since the first days of the Occupy movement, the agony of student debt has been a constant refrain,” said Andrew Ross, a professor at New York University and an active OWS member, while addressing a crowd in the park”
Well, Professor, why not try getting NYU to give back to the loan programs the money the university received for tuition? The banks were just ‘middle men’ in the transaction. Why not work for free and try getting the university to rescind all tuition?
The only thing I can say to the sign is BULLSHIT.
A car cost as much as what this idiot borrowed and most car loans are 5 years. So she has taken an additional 18 years and Still not honored her obligation. Lady you are simply a loser.....
Indiana alone has somewhere around a thousand educators at our states colleges that make from $175,000 - $400,000/yr.
Do they think really think those pampered liberal state employees are going to give that up?
I call absolute bull on that sign and on student debt forgiveness! Just like the mortgage fiasco, no one forced them to take out the debt. No one forced them to go into easy and/or useless degree fields. No one is forcing them to stand around with their fellow unwashed in urine and feces soaked ground either.
I paid off my college loan. My daughter paid off her college loan working part time through school to do so. Everyone I know has paid off their college loan. But these useless eaters want us to pay their expenses from the cradle to the grave. I’m sick of them!
Apparently colleges need to introduce a ‘Loan Repayment 101’ class.
Right... I sold my home, I paid my debts and they want debt forgiveness? I was stupid! I should have the bank to forgive my condo loan and let me stay in it. I feel like a chump playing by the rules!
Maybe Comrade Professor should take a pay cut to help out the students...
10 Years of Military Service
Borrowed $1,500.00
Still OWE: $0.00
Quit your whining.
There’s a word for these people: DEADBEAT. I sure wouldn’t want to employ any of these losers...
There are already programs:
Loan Forgiveness Programs
http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml
Volunteer Work
These volunteer organizations offer loan forgiveness:
AmeriCorps. Serve for 12 months and receive up to $7400 in stipends plus $4725 to be used towards your loan. Call 1-800-942-2677.
Peace Corps. Volunteers may apply for deferment of Stafford, Perkins and Consolidation loans and partial cancellation of Perkins Loans (15% for each year of service, up to 70% in total). Volunteers make a real difference in the lives of real people with two years of service in more than 70 developing countries. Contact the Peace Corps at 1111 20th St., NW, Washington, DC 20526 or call 1-800-424-8580 or 1-202-692-1845.
Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). Volunteer with private, non-profit groups that help eradicate hunger, homelessness, poverty and illiteracy. Provide 1700 hours of service and receive $4725. Call 1-800-942-2677 or 1-202-606-5000.
Military
Students who are in the Army National Guard may be eligible for their Student Loan Repayment Program, which offers up to $10,000. (Note, the military and veterans’ associations provide many scholarships and tuition assistance programs. See the section on Military Aid for details.)
Teaching
Students who become full-time teachers in an elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families can have a portion of their Perkins Loan forgiven under The National Defense Education Act. This program forgives 15% of your loan for the first and second years of teaching service, 20% for the third and fourth, and 30% for the fifth. Contact your school district’s administration to see which schools are eligible.
Mississippi teachers who currently have their Alternate Route Teaching License and teach in a shortage area may be eligible for the Teacher Loan Repayment program. Visit the Mississippi Office of State Student Financial Aid web site at www.ihl.state.ms.us or call 1-601-432-6997.
The American Federation of Teachers maintains a list of other loan forgiveness programs for teachers.
Legal and Medical Studies
Many law schools forgive the loans of students who serve in public interest or non-profit positions. For more information, contact Equal Justice Works (formerly the National Association for Public Interest Law) at 2120 L Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20037-1541 (phone 1-202-466-3686 or fax 1-202-429-9766). The American Bar Association (ABA) also has a summary of Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP), Directory of Law School Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP) and State Loan Repayment Assistance Programs.
The US Department of Health and Human Services offers loan forgiveness programs through the National Health Service Corps and the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program. These programs offer loan forgiveness to physicians and registered nurses who agree to practice for a set number of years in areas that lack adequate medical care (including remote and/or economically depressed regions).
The US National Institutes of Health’s NIH Loan Repayment Programs repays up to $35,000/year of student loan debt for US citizens who are conducting clinical medical research.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) offers loan forgiveness of $25,000 per year for three years for veterinarians who commit to work in a veterinary shortage area for three years. The application deadline is June 30.
If you’re a California resident, contact the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (State Loan Repayment Program, 400 R Street, Room 330, Sacramento, CA 95811; 1-916-326-3745). Other states may have similar programs.
Many hospitals and private healthcare facilities use loan forgiveness to recruit occupational and physical therapists. Contact the American Physical Therapy Association (1111 North Fairfax St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1488; 1-800-999-2782) or the American Occupational Therapy Association (P.O. Box 31220, 47200 Montgomery Lane, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220; 1-301-652-2682).
Other loan repayment programs for medical school students include:
Nicholas J. Pisacano MD Memorial Foundation Inc. (American Board of Family Practice)
Disadvantaged Health Professions Faculty Loan Repayment Program
Indian Health Service (IHS) Loan Repayment Program
US Air Force, Army, and Navy Financial Assistance Programs
The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) maintains a database of state and other loan repayment programs for medical school students.
Other Paths to Forgiveness
Students who receive the Michael Murphy Loan to study law enforcement, law, probation and parole, penology, or other related fields are eligible to work off one-fifth per year as a State Trooper (or related law enforcement official) in Alaska. Contact the Alaska State Troopers, Director’s Office Scholarship Fund, 5700 East Tudor Rd., Anchorage, AK 99507; 1-907-269-5511.
Maryland state and local government employees who earn less than $40,000 gross annually may be eligible for a loan assistance/repayment program to study law, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, social work and education. Contact the Maryland State Scholarship Administration, 16 Francis St., Annapolis, MD 21401; 1-410-974-2971 x146.
Federal Government Loan Forgiveness Programs
Perkins loans and Stafford Loans can be cancelled for full-time service as a teacher in a designated elementary or secondary school serving students from low-income families, special education teacher (includes teaching children with disabilities in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school), qualified professional provider of early intervention services for the disabled, teacher of math, science, foreign languages, bilingual education, or other fields designated as teacher shortage areas, employee of a public or non-profit child or family service agency providing services to high-risk children and their families from low-income communities, nurse or medical technician, law enforcement or corrections officer, staff member in the educational component of a Head Start Program, service as a Vista or Peace Corps Volunteer and service in the Armed Forces (up to 50% in areas of hostilities or imminent danger).
See also the US Department of Education’s pages on Cancellation/Deferment Options for Teachers and Cancellation for Childcare Providers, as well as the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Form.
The US Department of Education maintains a database of low-income schools eligible for teacher loan cancellation for Perkins and Stafford loans.
Secondary school math and science teachers, and elementary/secondary school special education teachers who commit to working in high-need schools for five years can obtain up to $17,500 in Stafford loan forgiveness. They must teach full time for five consecutive years in a qualifying low-income school and be “highly qualified”. (The Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act of 2004, HR 5186, increased the amount of forgiveness from $5,000 to $17,500 on October 30, 2004.)
Visit the HRSA web site for information on Nursing Education Loan Repayment
The Federal Student Loan Repayment Program allows federal agencies to establish loan forgiveness programs to help recruit and retain employees. This is technically a loan repayment program and not a loan forgiveness program, as the agencies make payments directly to the loan holder and the payments represent taxable income to the employee. The agencies can repay up to $10,000 in Federal student loans per employee per calendar year, with a cumulative maximum of $60,000 per employee. Employees must agree to work for the agency for at least 3 years. For more information, see the Student Loan Repayment Program FAQ. This program is authorized by 5 USC 5379 (alternate link) and 5 CFR 537. Federal Employee Student Loan Assistance Act (P.L. 108-123, 11/11/03) increased the repayment limits to $10,000 per employee per year and $60,000 per employee cumulative. (The federal government’s jobs site is located at www.usajobs.opm.gov. They also have a site focused on jobs for recent graduates.)
I hear an ‘executive order’ in the making.
What better way to get re-elected than to come right out and buy the votes.
Could this have been the plan from day one for OWS ?
Maybe we should have our mortgages and credit card balances forgiven, as well...who needs banks?
PAY ME MY MONEY BACK YOU SOCIALIST PUKES. WE THAT WORK... WORKED HARD FOR THAT MONEY. IF I HAD MY WAY, I WOULD JAIL YOUR SORRY ASSES IF YOU DO NOT PAY IT BACK. NO ONE HAS EVER BAILED OUT MY PROBLEMS... NEVER PAID OFF MY LOANS... NEVER FED OR CLOTHED ME OR MY FAMILY. **** ALL OF YOU PARASITES... I HOPE WE SOON SEE A RETRURN TO THE “KENT STATE SOLUTION”. IT'S THE ONLY WAY.
LLS
I totally don’t believe the picture.
If that woman really borrowed $26,000 and was paying a minimal payment (say 100 dollars), as opposed to the required payment, she still would have been paying it down.
For the penalties and interest to build up to 60 grand, she would have had to basically not pay anything for 10 years.
Is this how the Higher Education “bubble” - forming over the last few generations - finally bursts?
We raised them in socialist indoctrination camps, grooming them to go to a worthless, over-priced universities no matter the cost.
Capitalist reality smacks them in the face at graduation and you blame the kids for having a fit?
Educrats, you created the problem, deal with it!
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!
I can see demands for free housing, free food and free health care coming soon...
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