Denver Direct: STUDENT DEBT PROTEST – FRIDAY AT THE CAPITOL


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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.