Friend,, The student debt crisis is worse than ever before. A total of 45 million Americans are weighed down by $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, hitting marginalized communities the hardest. As Americans continue to grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic – 30% of the population can’t pay their housing payments, food insecurity runs rampant, and medical costs continue to rise – President Biden is set to unfreeze student loan repayments on May 1st, despite having the power to cancel all federal student loans with the stroke of a pen. To meet this moment, UnKoch My Campus is co-sponsoring the Debt Collective’s National Day of Action on Monday, April 4th, in Washington D.C. The Koch network has played, and continues to play, a direct role in the student debt crisis. More than 60 years ago, the Kochs were among the first to normalize the concept of student debt. In Koch-linked outlets such as Reason magazine, they argued that education cost too little, subsidies for public schools posed unfair competition for private schools, and that long term debt repayments would serve as a reasonable mechanism for increasing the price of education. Today, think tanks such as the CATO Institute and astroturf organizations like Americans for Prosperity continue to advocate for “balanced” budgets that result in further cuts to state funding of public education. The success of the Koch-funded capture of higher education is inextricably linked to the present debt crisis. As federal funding for education continues to plummet and tuition prices skyrocket, the resulting vacuum is filled with Koch money. In other words, universities can’t afford not to accept Koch funding. Through funding for professorships, student fellowships, programming, and research centers, higher education comes to increasingly reflect the Koch agenda. It’s time for President Biden to cancel student debt. Not only will debt cancellation free millions of Americans from debt cycles and shrink the racial wealth gap in America, it will also mark an important ideological blow to the norms used by the Koch network to justify the privatization of higher education. That’s why we need you to join us on Monday, April 4th. If you can’t make it to D.C., you can still show support by joining a local debtors assembly, participating in “take your debt to work day,” and by saying No To Koch Cash. In Solidarity, The UnKoch My Campus Team |
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