STUDENT DEBT PROTEST - FRIDAY AT THE CAPITOL

 Students and Labor Allies to Protest

Department of Education

 on Anniversary of $1 Trillion of Student Debt

Denver, Colorado – April 25, 2014

Two years ago this month, American student educational debt passed the $1 trillion mark ― a level that is unmatched in any other country around the globe.

Therefore, on Friday, April 25, 2014, the Colorado Student Power Alliance (COSPA) and supporting organizations ― including Colorado Jobs With Justice ― will protest this unjust situation. Demonstrators will gather at 9 a.m. at the Denver Capitol building at 200 E. Colfax and then march to the U.S. Department of Education building at 1244 N. Speer Boulevard.

Students and their supporting demonstrators will demand that Arne Duncan, the head of the U.S. Department of Education, make four key changes to the current system of higher education that continues to drown students in crippling debt and long-term economic hardship:

1.   A mandatory increase in Pell Grants, which serve low-income students.

2.   Full disclosure of banking products used by colleges and universities;

3.   That all students be informed about federal repayment loan opportunities, including the Income-Based Repayment and Pay-As-You-Earn programs, which provide low-cost alternatives for repaying debt.

4.   That the regional Department of Education refuse to resign contracts with Sallie Mae, one of the largest lenders in the nation that profits from student debt. 

Finally, students will share their stories about how educational debt has negatively impacted their lives and, in many cases, their families’ lives.

The Colorado Student Power Alliance wants to make the American public aware of the troubling nature of student debt in the U.S., its damaging effects, and workable ways we can reduce it in order to protect future generations from repayment default and economic hardship.