Dear John, 

Here’s the most recent update we have on solutions to the student debt crisis. The U.S. House and Senate are currently assessing the reconciliation bill. What does this mean? Committees are discussing what they will and won't be investing in. 

Right now, the reconciliation funding package contains a proposal that would make two years of community college free for everyone. And it’s so close to passing! But we need all hands on deck, because Senate Republicans and a handful of moderate Democrats want to kill free community college.

I can’t underscore how major free community college would be when it comes to fixing and validating the student debt crisis—in order to solve the issue once and for all, we need to both cancel student debt and make college free, so we’re not right back where we started.

Two years of free college would be transformative for our country—it is the necessary first step towards four years of free college. Cost should never be a barrier to accessing the degree that’s right for someone, but right now college prices are pushing thousands out of pursuing more financially secure lives for themselves and their families.

You know the problem. You’ve lived through it. The cost of college rose by over 1,000% from 1982-2012, and another 25% in the last 10 years, so it's no surprise that we've landed our country in a dire student debt crisis. 45 million student loan borrowers hold $1.7 trillion in debt and for many, there's no way out from under the debt burden. 

We can’t let that number get any bigger. We’re here to keep fighting for debt cancellation from President Biden, but this week stand with me in saving the next generation of college attendees from the debt we know all too well.

We just need you to tell your senators to support #FreeCollege and to #CancelStudentDebt!

In this fight with you,

Charlotte Hancock
Senior Director
Generation Progress