Occupy Student Debt Wants You to Stop Paying Your Loans
Could a mass movement of college students and graduates challenge the student debt status quo? That’s the aim of Occupy Student Debt, a new movement inspired by Occupy Wall Street that wants to send a clear message about the crushing burden of the debt by convincing a million Americans to pledge to stop paying their student loans.
Occupy Student Debt supporters say today's college graduates would "give anything to pay our debt," but they are either unemployed or underemployed because of the recession. President Obama recently fast-tracked debt relief for students set to graduate next year, but his plan doesn’t help someone who’s been out of school for a few years. A lack of consumer protections—particularly for students who borrowed from private lenders—means