Starting this week, some student loan borrowers in default may receive notice that their wages are being garnished directly from their paychecks in order to restart repayment. This is one of many Trump era changes to student loan repayment programs negatively impacting borrowers.

Of the nearly 43 million student loan borrowers in the US, only 40% of them are current on their payments. Since changes made in 2020 to protect borrowers during the early days of the Covid pandemic, confusing rules about payment plans have come and gone between the Biden and Trump administrations. Furthermore, thanks to cuts at the Department of Education, many borrowers are completely lost on how to properly restart their payments or stay on paths they thought would lead to forgiveness of their remaining balance.

Joining us to discuss these struggles and how borrowers can organize to protect themselves and others is Press Secretary and organizer for the Debt Collective, Braxton Brewington. He helps us navigate the current state of the shifting and messy student debt landscape and what rights borrowers have.

Additional Resources

News Brief: How Corporate Media Laid the Groundwork for a Rightwing Incitement Campaign in Minnesota by Citations Needed

Want more?

Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance
Contact us: mailbag@convergencemag.com
Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT
Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate
Here's how we're nurturing writers this year.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

The State of Student Debt w/ Braxton Brewington