Petition supporting student loan forgiveness act

Petition Supporting Student Loan Forgiveness Act Nears 1 Million Signatures
Posted by Shannon Rasberry on Apr 26, 2012 in Student Loan Debt, Student Loan Legislation, Student Loan Programs | 3 comments

A petition in support of legislation that would provide dramatic relief for student loan borrowers neared one million signatures Thursday, a day after the total outstanding debt from student loans supposedly reached $1 trillion.
Wednesday was “1-T Day,” according to Robert Applebaum, founder of ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com and the creator of a petition calling on Americans to support the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012, proposed by Rep. Hansen Clarke, a Democrat from Michigan. In an email, Applebaum urged organizations and individuals to participate in a National Day of Action by signing the petition and spreading the word about Clarke’s proposed legislation.
“Total outstanding student loan debt in America is expected to exceed $1 TRILLION this year,” the petition reads. “Millions of hardworking, taxpaying, educated Americans are being crushed under the weight of their educational debts, while the economy continues to sputter. Support a REAL economic stimulus and jobs plan. Support the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012 (H.R. 4170).”
By Thursday morning, the petition, hosted by SignOn.org, had over 912,000 signatures. It will eventually be delivered to Rep. John Kline, D-Minn., the U.S. House of Representatives , the U.S. Senate, and President Barack Obama.
Clarke’s proposed legislation would significantly alter federal student loan repayment policies for current and future borrowers:
Create a “10–10 standard” for student loan forgiveness by limiting payments to 10 percent of a borrowers discretionary income for 10 years, after which any remaining debt would be forgiven
Current borrowers, including those who are delinquent, would be grandfathered into the 10–10 program and allowed to count the amount they have already paid over the past decade toward meeting the forgiveness requirement
Cap interest rates on federal student loans at 3.4 percent
Borrowers whose education loan debt exceeds their income would be allowed to convert private student loan debt into federal Direct loans, at 3.4 percent interest, which would then be enrolled in the 10–10 program
Reduce the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness requirement from 10 years to five years for graduates who enter public service professions or agree to work in underserved areas of the country
Current borrowers would be eligible for 100 percent forgiveness under the 10–10 program, but future borrowers would be subject to a $45,520 cap on forgiveness (the average cost of a degree from a four-year public university)
According to the bill’s language, the legislation would be financed by projected savings from the end of Iraq and Afghanistan Overseas Contingency Operations and would not take funding from existing financial aid programs.
For Applebaum, Clarke’s legislation would help undo a commoditization of education that has developed over the past three decades, allow borrowers to once again participate in the economy, and help improve the financial situation of all Americans.
“As a result of more than 30 years of treating higher education as an individual commodity, rather than a public good and an investment in our collective future,” Applebaum wrote, “those buried under the weight of their student loan debt are not buying homes or cars, not starting businesses or families, and they’re not investing, inventing, innovating or otherwise engaged in any of the economically stimulative activities that we need all Americans to be engaged in if we’re ever to dig ourselves out of the giant hole created by the greed of those at the very top.”