Further Reflections on Student Loan Forgiveness + New Colo RISE Grant Opportunity
Thanks to all who joined us last week at our revived “One Dupont West” happy hour. It was great to see many long-time colleagues and friends and a special thanks to those of you who responded - and showed up for the first time! We will gather again this fall and will share those details in a forthcoming newsletter.
Unless you have been completely screen and print free for the last week, you know that the Biden Administration announced their student loan forgiveness and final extension deadline for the student loan payment pause. The news dominated the media and stories, analyses and Twitter rants occupied my feeds. Our team was able to step back and put together a short blog post with initial details and analysis, which was shared in last week’s newsletter. Since last week’s take from our team, some questions have been answered (while many still remain).
In fact, Ron Lieber (He/Daddy/Abba) and Tara Siegel Bernard of The New York Times, created a guide outlining eligibility and qualifications for various elements of the loan forgiveness proposal. Notably, Lieber and Bernard reported that Direct PLUS Loans (also known as Parent Plus loans) do qualify for forgiveness. Coined as the “hidden casualties” of the student debt crisis, over 3.7 million families are impacted by Parent PLUS loans totaling more than $104 billion. Up until clarification from the White House following the Biden Administration’s announcement, it was unclear if Parent PLUS borrowers would be included since they are often rendered invisible by being excluded from reports of annual student loan figures. The Education Commission of the States (ECS) highlighted additional policy updates included in the Administration’s plan that “contained significant changes” to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. These updates have the potential to cut in half monthly payments, end interest capitalization for monthly payers, and forgive IDR plans faster. We expect further details to emerge as additional guidance is released by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
As we look to Colorado: according to data from the Education Data Initiative, 774,000 Coloradans owe $28.5 billion in student loans. This comes out to an average of $36,822 per student borrower. Almost 50% of Coloradans in the 2020 graduating class carried some amount of loan debt.
Another debt cancellation announcement this week will affect more than 5,400 Coloradans who attended Westwood College, a private for-profit college that closed in 2016, and owe upwards of $107 million in federal loans. The Colorado Attorney General's Office said in a statement that this decision was led by the college’s misleading promises to “students about employment and salary prospects, transferability of credits, and its private institutional loan."
We will continue to monitor and share additional analysis about the student loan forgiveness proposal and the final student loan payment pause. What questions do you have? Share them here; we would be happy to dig in further on these issues.
Election season is just around the corner and Chalkbeat Colorado wants to know what education topics and issues are important to you. This November, Coloradans will vote in races for Governor, Colorado House and Senate members, the State Board of Education, and several ballot measures. Submit your education questions to be included in Chalkbeat’s candidate questionnaires and election coverage and tell us what you are most interested in reading about as we drive toward the November election.
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Finally, the team at Whiteboard Advisors is growing! We are seeking two communications professionals to join our team: a Communications Associate and a Communications Senior Associate. If you or someone in your network is interested in joining a mission-driven communications, research, and strategy firm, we would love to receive your application or referral!
Spotlight on Colorado Education and Workforce
Governor Jared Polis announced applications for the Response, Innovation, and Student Equity (RISE) Fund are now open. This round of funding is specifically focused on “serving students attending schools and districts in turnaround status and school districts stressed during the recent pandemic closures” including rural school districts. The RISE Turnaround Education Fund is sponsored through the federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Funds and was created to target the learning challenges and impacts from COVID at turnaround schools and school districts. Eligible applicants include public local educational providers, nonprofit or community-based organizations, federally-recognized Tribes, and a consortia of such entities. Grant applications are due on September 15 at 5pm MT, with award notification following on October 1.
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