Student Debt Reform in the 2019 State Legislative Sessions
Tuition and fees at both public and private colleges and universities have never been higher, and the cost of loans taken out by American students for higher education has never been greater. Close to 70 percent of college students graduate with debt, and the collective student loan debt in the United States in 2019 is now over $1.5 trillion. Many of the student debt holders face financial instability, hold down multiple jobs to make ends meet, and are forced to delay financial investments like homeownership and retirement savings. This debt has a wide effect not just on the student debt holders, but across the economy.
Adding to concerns over the student debt crisis are widespread reports of potential predatory lending practices (including the use of subprime loans with expected default rates as high as 92 percent) by student loan providers across the United States. In addition, borrowers face potentially unethical behavior from for-profit colleges and universities, which account for a disproportionately high share of student debt. Students who attend for-profit institutions are at higher risk of defaulting on their loans. In fact, 44 percent of borrowers at these schools faced some type of loan distress five years into repayment. These for-profit institutions are also much more likely to declare bankruptcy (95.5% of colleges that have closed since 2013 were for-profit), leaving students without access to a higher education or even credits that can be transferred to other schools.
Download the full report to read more.
Mainers Concerned About Economy and Health Care, Support the Recent Actions Taken in the 2019 Legislative Session
A recent poll commissioned by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) shows Mainers are concerned about pocketbook economic issues, the affordability of health care, and education. Mainers also support recent state legislative actions to address these issues and the direction Maine is going after the 2019 legislative session.
Legislators took significant steps in the 2019 session to address the concerns of Mainers and this polling demonstrates ongoing support for progressive policy solutions to the problems facing the state.
Mainers Support Action on Economic Concerns
On a scale of 1 to 10, voters supported legislative action to:
- Establish more protections for workers including fairness in overtime pay and scheduling, and preventing wage theft: 7.53
- Require paid sick days: 7.42
- Expand broadband to rural communities: 7.27
- Fund housing bonds for the construction of new affordable housing units for low income seniors: 7.19
- Create a state insurance fund to ensure that all employees can take medical or family leave: 6.92
- Reduce the gender wage gap: 6.89
Voters Support Action on Health Care
Maine voters prioritize action on health care with a focus on affordability and addressing the opioid epidemic. On a scale of 1 to 10, voters supported legislative action to:
- Make prescription drugs more affordable: 8.2
- Hold pharma companies accountable for the opioid crisis: 7.75
- Create a board to set price limits on drugs: 7.35
Mainers Support Action on Education
Maine voters are concerned about the affordability of higher education and support action to increase access to early childhood education. On a scale of 1 to 10, voters supported legislative action to:
- Provide student debt forgiveness for any Mainer who lives and works in Maine for at least five years after they graduate from college: 6.99
- Make community college free for all Maine residents who maintain a C average or better while they attend school: 6.88
- Ensure every school district offers public preschool: 6.82
Click here to see the poll memo and here for a presentation on full results.
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The State Innovation Exchange commissioned Lincoln Park Strategies to complete the research. The survey was conducted June 14 to June 20 with 600 respondents and has a margin of error ± 4 percent at the 95% confidence interval.