Students at The Evergreen State College are calling on members of Congress to vote against a federal budget plan that would slash almost $13 million from student loan programs.
The budget proposal largely achieves cuts by making student loans more expensive for borrowers, in some cases by raising interest rates.
The bill comes at a time when students say they’re increasingly relying on loans to pay for their educations. That’s partly because tuition increases at Washington’s public colleges and universities in the past decade have far outpaced growth in wages statewide.
“I depend on federal aid to be able to attend college,” said Nathaniel Ashlock, an Evergreen sophomore and one of four children raised by a single mother. He estimates he will owe as much as $20,000 in loans when he graduates.
“If interest rates go up, then consequently, my debt will go up.”
Vice President Dick Cheney cast the tie-breaking 51-50 vote in favor of the budget proposal passed by the Senate last month. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the measure Wednesday.
Evergreen student leaders — including some involved with the college’s chapter of Washington State Public Interest Research Group — plan to stop their peers on campus today and encourage them to call their congressional representatives.
Some also plan to attend a larger “Day of Action” event today in Seattle with students from several other Washington universities. They detailed their plans Monday on campus.
Jane Kaszynski, Evergreen’s student trustee, said the bill would affect more than just college students’ pocketbooks. It also could have an effect on the economy if fewer workers are able to afford a college education, she said.
“Student aid is an investment in our future,” Kaszynski said. “We also need it so that families can pull themselves out of poverty. ... Just as students and families need the most help, Congress wants to take that help away.”
