Revolution Brewing on Student Debt

Staff / Truthdig May 7, 2012 The U.S. once led the world in free education. The recent debate in Washington about whether to let student loan interest rates double ignores the fact that many students already cannot afford a college education or advanced training. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

House Passes Student Loan Bill That Would Cut Preventive Health Programs

Staff / Truthdig Apr 28, 2012 The GOP's assault on women's health continued Friday as the House passed a bill to prevent a hike in student loan interest rates, a legislative remedy that would be paid for with money from a preventive health program that funds breast and cervical cancer screenings. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Time to Start Preoccupying Wall Street

Lawrence Weschler / Truthdig Dec 10, 2011 What would it be like if activists were to spend the next several months developing, articulating and organizing toward a major national mortgage and student loan strike? Such a loan strike would be slated to begin on some specific preannounced date in the intermediate future. Why not, say, on Oct. 1, 2012, right in the middle of the next presidential campaign?Tyrannies all over the world exist in the ironclad certainty that people are nothing more than meat on sticks. Dig deeper ( 16 Min. Read )

A Poet’s-Eye View of Occupy Berkeley

Staff / Truthdig Nov 21, 2011 When he caught wind of conflict between students and police on campus, former poet laureate and UC Berkeley professor Robert Hass rushed to the scene on Nov. 9, only to witness local riot police beating students -- and eventually his wife and him, too -- with billy clubs. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Growing Student Debt Bubble

Staff / Truthdig Sep 26, 2011 In the aftermath of the stock market failure of 2008, another type of economic bubble is swelling: student debt. And it's no surprise, since Congress has done nothing to change the lending practices that brought the U.S. to the brink three years ago. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Quicksand of Debt for U.S. College Students

Staff / Truthdig Sep 8, 2011 According to the Project on Student Debt, the average arrears for graduating U.S. students is $24,000, but that figure is low for many who are entering a state of sustained debt peonage during the wonder years of young adulthood. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Falwell’s School Rolling in Federal Aid

Staff / Truthdig Jul 2, 2011 Given that so many of the religious right's mainstream leaders regularly spurn public assistance programs for allegedly creating government dependency, the fact that the late evangelist Jerry Falwell's Liberty University took $445 million in federal aid last year has been turning quite a few heads in the media. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Record Debt for the Class of 2011

Staff / Truthdig May 10, 2011 American college students set to graduate this spring will do so with a special distinction. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, with an average student debt of $22,900, the class of 2011 is the most indebted ever. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Education Department Bureaucracy Keeps Disabled Borrowers in Debt

Staff / Truthdig Feb 15, 2011 Under federal law, borrowers who develop lasting disabilities after taking out federal student loans are entitled to have their debts forgiven. The system was meant to spare former students who become disabled from a lifetime of spiraling debt. But the process of discharging the loans of disabled borrowers is broken. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Time to Crack Down on the Student Loan Cesspool

Marie Cocco / Truthdig May 3, 2007 The markers of a mushrooming student loan scandal are identical to so many of the rest: The Bush administration, determined to turn the federal government into a favor bank for its corporate cronies, ignored every indicator that the $85-billion-a-year student loan industry was rife with corruption. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )