Legislation varies by politician and opinions by individual. But if there a singular topic in which students can speak as a collective voice, it is combatting student debt.

United States Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced the Reducing Educational Debt (RED) Act on Monday at Syracuse University in efforts to alleviate college debt. The bill put forth by the senator would make the first two years of community college free for about 9 million students nationwide, enable student loan borrowers to refinance their federal and private loans at lower rates and increase availability of Pell Grants. Schumer said if the bill is passed, students would see the advantage of the proposal by the 2016 fall semester.

But even if students do not agree with Schumer’s specific plan, his decision to initiate the #InTheRed campaign, a movement that urges students to call on Congress to take action on college affordability, is telling of the existing dynamic between college students and political power: college debt alleviation is one of the few areas of policy in which students have significant influence.

Although young people often try to channel their energies into complex and generally divisive social, political and economic discussions, honing in on student debt as a united front from student to student allows for a stronger push to achieve a central objective. But before these objectives can be realized, it is essential that young people acknowledge the weight their voices carry in discussions specific to higher education regulation to come together as a driving force for shared positive change.

For SU students, the average total debt from federal loans is $27,000, according to data from President Barack Obama’s 2015 college scorecard — a shared number with that of 61 percent of New York state college graduates, according to Schumer’s office.

These numbers alone should inspire students to do their research. But it is efforts like Schumer’s that push the conversation past a complicated piece of legislation and allow students to engage with a living campaign that can spur movement and are more likely to generate tangible change.

But, at the same time, it is important that students are careful not to blindly support political initiatives simply because they cater to the buzzwords of “student debt.” To wield political power effectively is to be informed and dig deeper past the surface of the topic in which they are the primary stakeholders.

There is not a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to combatting student debt, but there is a uniform concern among U.S. college students in regard to rising tuition costs and loan interest rates. And while students are free to have an opinion on any subject, it should be acknowledged that current college students have the unique ability to reap the benefits of a shared voice in an issue as prominent as that of student debt.

Published on February 16, 2016 at 12:54 am

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