With student loan rates officially doubling from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent interest on Monday, a group of University of Denver students recently met with Representative Dianna DeGette (D-CO) to discuss increasing student debt.
Representative DeGette officially announced last Friday that she would sponsor the “Student Loan Fairness Act,” (H.R. 1330) after meeting with student representatives from the Colorado Student Power Alliance (COSPA) to discuss the bill. COSPA began a chapter at DU this past spring and now holds about 15 DU students according to DU Law student and COSPA member Sara Fitouri.
According to a press release on the official COSPA website, DeGette told the students “consider me your ally, because I really believe in what you’re doing,”
The “Student Loan Fairness Act” would lower student debt through a “10/10” repayment plan, which would require graduates to make 10 years of payments on their student loans at 10 percent of their discretionary income. After 10 years, their debt is forgiven under the bill.
“This is not a generational mistake,” said Fitouri, one of the students who met with DeGette. “This is a matter of an entire generation being pushed into debt.”
Last Friday, DeGette announced that she would sponsor the bill and hosted a question and answer session on Twitter.
“College affordability is an economic necessity and secures future strength of mid class & nation,” she tweeted.
According to Fitouri, DeGette also agreed to meet with representatives from COSPA in the fall to discuss reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
“She was incredibly supportive and incredibly supportive of forming a student union in Colorado.” said Fitouri.
COSPA attempting to become an official student union within Colorado focusing on student and youth interests such as student debt, educational standards, standardized testing and educational access.
“It’s really important to stress that this is part of a national campaign,” said Fitouri. “Students around the nation are mobilizing because student debt is going to destroy our generation,”
According to Fitouri, COSPA holds student representatives from the University of Denver, Regis and Auroria campuses, with DU holding the most active membership.
The group is now planning to launch a campaign at DU this coming fall.
“Our goal would be a student union,” said Fitouri. “Therefore a lot of students should be involved.”
