►
Description
Docket #0888 - Hearing concerning residents and neighborhoods in Boston most affected by student debt post pandemic
A
A
A
A
C
C
A
I'm
having
a
little
bit
of
internet
issues,
and
so,
if
I
disappear
into
the
internet
august,
I'm
gonna
ask
counselor
janie
to
please
step
in
and
facilitate
so
if
someone
from
my
team
could
send
over
to
counselor
janie
the
just
the
order
of
the
the
speakers
just
so
that
she
has
it
just
in
case
god
forbid
anything
happens,
and
I
am
not
able
to
facilitate
all
right.
So
I
need
to
gabble
us
in
I'm.
Gonna
use
my
my
phone
to
do
so
carrie.
A
A
In
order
of
arrival,
counselor
ed
flynn
from
district
2,
counselor
ricardo
arroyo
from
district
5..
The
city
council
will
be
conducting
this
hearing
virtually
via
zoom
in
accordance
with
governor
baker's
march
12
2020
executive
order.
This
enables
the
city
council
to
carry
out
its
responsibility
while
adhering
to
public
health
accommodations.
Ensuring
public
access
through
adequate
alternative
means,
I'm
not
keeping
my
glasses
on
y'all.
This
public
hearing
may
be
watched.
A
The
public
may
watch
this
hearing
via
live
stream
at
www.boston.gov
city
council
tv.
It
will
also
be
rebroadcasted
at
a
later
date.
On
comcast
channel
8
rcn
channel
82
verizon
channel
1964.,
we
will
also
take
public
testimony
at
the
end
of
the
hearing.
If
you
are
interested
in
testifying,
please
email
michelle.a.goldberg
at
boston.gov
for
the
link
and
follow
along
on
the
live
stream.
So
you
know
when
it's
your
turn
to
speak.
A
We
will
ask
that
you,
please
state
your
name
and
affiliation
residency
and
limit
your
comments
to
two
minutes
to
ensure
that
all
comments
and
concerns
can
be
heard.
Today's
hearing
is
on
docket
088
order
for
a
hearing
concerning
residents
and
neighborhoods
most
affected
by
student
debt
post
pandemic.
A
C
Sorry,
I
was
on
mute
technology
here
we
go
so.
Thank
you
so
much.
Madam
chair.
I
want
to
start
by
thanking
you
for
your
leadership
and
your
partnership
on
this
issue.
So
I
want
to
thank
my
sister-in-service
counselor
mejia.
Examining
college
debt
is
more
than
looking
to
just
erase
numbers.
This
is
a
crisis.
The
student
debt
crisis
is
an
economic
and
racial
justice
issue
and
we
must
address
it.
C
C
The
city
council
doesn't
have
governance
over
student
debt,
but
we
do
have
a
role
to
play
in
terms
of
elevating
this
issue
and
advocating
for
the
resources
needed
so
that
our
families
throughout
the
city
of
boston
and
throughout
the
commonwealth
of
massachusetts
are
not
saddled
particularly
black
and
brown
families
and
first-gen
college
students.
I
want
to
thank
folks
who
have
been
on
the
front
lines
working
on
this
issue:
zero
debt.
Massachusetts
for
their
tireless
advocacy
there
are
a
lot
of
student
groups,
have
been
doing
a
lot
of
great
work
here.
We've
got
an
amazing
panel.
C
A
Thank
you
very
much.
I'm
going
to
move
on.
I
also
wanted
to
acknowledge
that
we've
also
been
joined
by
councillor
campbell
of
district
four.
I
am
going
to
share
some
opening
remarks
and
then
I
would
love
to
buy
a
show
of
blue
hands.
If
my
colleagues
are
interested
in
in
what
opening
remarks,
just
let
me
know,
buy
a
show
of
blue
hands.
A
So
for
me,
this
issue
is
deeply
personal
and
professional
and
I'm
really
excited
to
be
working
alongside
counselor
president
kim
janey
on
this
issue.
As
someone
who
I
know
has
been
working
in
the
education
space
for
a
long
time,
she
shares
my
passion,
as
specifically
as
it
relates
to
our
english
language
learners.
A
I
totally
went
off
script,
so
let
me
just
go
back
here
as
the
first
person
in
my
family
to
graduate
high
school
and
college,
I
felt
that
the
opportunities
that
were
made
available
to
me
because
of
my
education,
but
I
also
felt
that
the
weight
of
student
debt
were
on
my
shoulders.
This
is
not
just
a
financial
issue.
It's
an
issue
of
mental
health
as
well.
Money
problems
are
triggering
it's
hard
enough
to
try
and
keep
your
head
above
water
in
the
city
without
the
doom
and
gloom
of
the
student
debt.
A
I
hope
this
hearing
will
be
informative
and
solution
oriented.
I
think
that
while
we
each
know
individually
the
burden
of
student
debt,
we
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do
to
build
upon
our
collective
knowledge
and
collective
action.
I
look
forward
to
this
hearing
and
I'll
turn
over
the
conversation
over
to
the
panel.
I
believe
that
I
have
some
colleagues
who
have
raised
their
blue
hands
and
I
see
one
blue
hand
and
of
course
it
is
my
brother
in
service
ricardo
arroyo,
district
5
counselor.
You
now
have
the
floor.
D
Thank
you
so
much.
Madam
chair,
you
know
I
just
want
to
say
first
a
thank
you
to
the
advocates
and
also
to
the
counselors
for
calling
this
hearing.
You
know,
personally
myself,
I
have
student
loan
debt.
I
was
blessed
when
I
went
to
undergrad
through
a
blend
of
scholarship
and
family
investment,
to
walk
out
of
undergrad,
with
very
little
money
owed,
largely
due
to
going
to
an
state
school.
D
They
are
instead
trying
to
make
decisions,
and
I
can
speak
for
this
personally
as
to
whether
or
not
they'll
ever
own
a
home,
whether
or
not
they
can
have
children
on
an
income
that
is
going
to
be
so
heavily
dependent
on
taking
a
portion
of
that
and
paying
back.
Essentially
the
debt
that
you
incurred
to
make
an
attempt
to
better
yourself
and
your
family
and
in
some
cases,
such
as
those
who
go
into
public
interest,
their
communities.
D
D
And
so
those
are
the
things
that
I
would
like
to
see
as
kind
of
discuss
ways
to
move
away
from
this
current
process
and
other
ways
in
which
the
state
and
the
city
can
really
get
involved
and
federally.
If
there's
ways,
we
can
pressure
the
feds
to
really
move
on
these
things.
So
thank
you.
Everybody
for
bringing
this
up,
it's
a
very
pertinent
issue,
it's
a
big
issue
and
I
look
forward
to
hearing
from
this
panel
on
it.
Thank
you.
A
E
I
too
left
undergrad
with
no
debt,
then
had
the
audacity
to
go
to
law,
school
and
left
with
debt,
and
so
what
does
that
say
about
our
society
right?
But
then,
in
addition
to
that,
when
you
come
out
of
law
school
and
you
want
to
use
your
law
degree
for
community
purpose
or
something
bigger
than
you,
it's
really
difficult
to
do
that
your
choices
are
limited.
When
you
think
about
the
amount
of
debt
that
you
have
and
whether
or
not
you
should
go
into
the
private
sector
to
a
law,
firm
etc.
E
We
know
most
folks
who
have
debt
is
because
of
student
loans,
medical
bills
or
other
things
outside
of
their
control,
which
of
course
now
is
this
pandemic.
That
is
devastating
our
city
and
communities
of
color
in
particular.
So
this
conversation
is
so
timely
connects
to
the
hearing
tomorrow.
So,
thank
you,
ladies
for
your
leadership,
in
your
partnership.
E
I
was
on
a
meeting
just
now
when
someone
said
you're
wearing
a
sweatshirt
like
it's,
my
boston
city,
council,
sweatshirt,
so
shout
out
to
kerry.
You've
been
getting
a
lot
of
love
for
the
sweatshirts
that
you
gave
us,
so
thank
you.
Thank
you
to
central
staff
and
thank
you,
ladies,
so
much
for
your
leadership
on
this.
A
No,
I'm
really
excited
to
to
have
this
hearing,
and
if
anyone
knows
anything
about
me,
I
am
just
prepare
to.
This
is
going
to
be
a
deep
conversation,
but
in
in
the
interest
of
just
making
sure
that
people
understand
what's
at
stake.
I'll
push
you
a
little
bit,
but
the
goal
really
is
is
to
bring
our
audience
along
on
this
journey.
A
So
if
you
say
things
that
I
don't
understand,
trust
that
I'm
not
going
to
make
my
audience
try
to
figure
google
things
out,
so
I'm
going
to
ask
you
to
break
it
down
in
in
layman's
terms,
because
I
know
we
got
some
academia
in
the
house,
and
I
want
you
to
know
that
people
are
paying
attention
and
I
need
you
all
to
talk
in
ways
that
my
people
can
understand
it.
Okay,
just
letting
you
know
so
without
further
ado,
I
am
going
to
oh
counselor.
Janie
has
her
hand
raised
just.
C
Thank
you
and
I'm
so
grateful
that
counselor
campbell
brought
up
the
ordinance
that
we
filed
together
on
credit
checks
and
how
debt
impacts-
people,
not
just
it's
through
the
rest
of
their
lives,
every
little
decision
that
they
make
and
I
just
wanted
to
underscore.
I
know
we're
getting
getting
ready
to
jump
into
this
amazing
panel,
but
I
wanted
to
underscore
that
for
black
and
brown
students
this
is
particularly
our
hardship
and
first
gen
students,
particularly
if
they
don't
finish
and
get
their
degree
so
oftentimes
our
students
have
the
the
burden
of
are
they.
C
You
know
where
they
need
to
be
academically,
they're
doing
all
of
what
they
need
to
do
academically
and
then,
if
they
don't,
for
whatever
reason
graduate
but
then
are
still
burdened
with
debt.
It's
a
double
whammy,
because
they
don't
have
that
degree.
That's
going
to
afford
them
the
job.
That's
supposedly
going
to
pay
off
the
debt,
but
they
still
have
the
debt
and
black
and
brown
students
are
much
more
likely
to
be
in
that
situation
than
their
white
and
asian
counterparts.
C
A
A
F
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
chair
mejia
and
chair
jenny.
Thank
you
for
the
invitation
to
join
you.
It's
a
pleasure
to
be
here,
it's
good
to
see
my
colleagues,
chancellor
suarez
orozco
and
president
robertson
roberson
as
commissioner
of
massachusetts,
higher
education.
I
oversee
the
public
institutions.
There
are
29
public
institutions
with
primary
focus
on
our
15
community
colleges
and
nine
state
universities.
F
So
I'm
going
to
give
you
a
few
facts
about
massachusetts,
higher
education
and
financial
aid
in
particular,
because
that's
the
cornerstone
of
what
we
use
to
assist
students
so
that
they
don't
have
to
take
out
loans
first
off
how
how
well
a
provider
is
massachusetts
compared
to
other
states,
not
the
greatest
we're
in
the
bottom.
Third
of
states.
We
provide
two
years
ago
was
95
million
dollars
worth
of
financial
aid.
A
third
of
that
amount
goes
to
private
institutions,
so
two-thirds
goes
to
public
institution
two
years
ago.
F
That
amount
went
up
for
the
first
time
in
25
years
to
105
million,
and
that
was
the
first
significant
increase.
The
difference
on
how
we
use
that
additional
10
million
dollars
was
that
we
targeted
the
community
colleges
and,
through
a
program
called
mass
grant,
plus
we
basically
covered
unmet
need
at
our
community
colleges.
Now
how
you
define
unmet
need
is
important.
F
I
we
call
it
unmet,
need
for
the
cost
of
instruction
tuition
fees
and
a
set
amount
for
books
and
supplies
we
subtract
from
from
that
cost
the
pell
grants
or
any
other
financial
aid.
This
was
targeted
to
the
lowest
income
individuals
in
massachusetts,
particularly
pell
grant
students,
but
if
there
was
an
enough
money
to
go
beyond
pell
grant
students,
you
factor
in
the
family's
contribution
and
unmet
need
is
the
difference
between
the
total
cost
and
all
of
those
various
categories,
and
what
mass
grant
did
is
that
it
paid
100
of
those
unmet
costs.
F
Now
you
might
ask:
well
that's
not
the
only
cost,
it's
not
just
tuition
fees
and
books
and
supplies
and
you're
right.
There
are
a
lot
of
things:
child
care,
transportation,
housing.
I
can
go
on
and
on
so.
Our
definition
of
unmet
need
was
somewhat
limited,
but
it's
what
the
funding
allowed
for,
and
we
gave
it
to
our
community
colleges.
F
Last
year's
budget
that
the
board
of
higher
education
approved
was
to
extend
that
unmet
need
completion
to
the
state
universities
and
the
third
was
to
the
umass
campuses.
The
budget
that
we
put
forward
was
a
significant
one.
It
did
not
get
funded,
but
we
do
have
enough,
and
we
expect
in
this
year's
budget
to
cover
unmet
need
in
the
community
colleges.
Just
so
you
know,
the
public
institutions
are
the
most
affordable
of
our
institutions.
Have
a
higher
education
in
massachusetts.
F
To
give
you
a
sense
of
how
much
students
owe
on
average
in
the
community
colleges
after
between
the
time
they
start
and
finish,
it's
a
two-year
degree
it's
about
ten
thousand
dollars
in
the
state
universities
in
umass,
it's
closer
to
thirty
thousand
dollars.
But
it's
important
to
remember
that
those
amounts
that
indebtedness
of
students,
both
the
numbers
of
students
that
were
indebted
and
the
amount
that
they
were
indebted,
grew
dramatically
between
2008,
the
great
recession
and
2015.
F
since
2015
with
programs.
Like
mass
grant,
plus
and
other
financial
aid,
targeted
programs
to
low-income
individuals,
that
number
has
started
to
go
down
both
the
amount
of
debt
and
the
number
of
students
that
are
taking
out
debt
in
our
public
institutions,
not
all
institutions.
This
is
not
graduate
school
either
in
our
public
institutions
has
gone
down
a
little
bit
has,
is
it
lower
than
it
was
in
2008?
F
No,
it's
higher
than
it
was
in
2008,
but
the
trend
now
is
turning
it
around
and
I
believe
and
there's
a
program
that
we
have
with
the
city
of
boston,
where
the
city
of
boston
will
pay
for
students,
expenses
in
the
community
colleges,
and
then
we
pick
up
the
expenses
called
the
commonwealth
commitment
as
they
go
to
finish
their
undergraduate
career.
Those
programs,
I
believe,
have
made
a
difference
overall.
Do
we
need
more
financial
aid?
We
definitely
do
the
way
we
approach
and
and
the
board
of
higher
education
is
major
agenda.
F
Is
an
equity
agenda
focusing
on
race.
It's
black
and
brown
students,
that's
where
we
have
to
make
the
biggest
difference,
so
it's
targeted
investments.
It's
worked
that
10
million
that
was
put
in
two
years
ago.
The
biggest
increase
in
25
years
made
a
huge
difference
in
the
community
college
segment.
G
A
H
H
I
am
the
new
chancellor
of
the
great
public
university
in
the
city
of
boston,
the
only
public
university
and
the
most
diverse
power
public
university
in
the
commonwealth.
It
is
a
great
honor.
I
come
to
you
as
a
first
generation
to
college
as
an
english
language
learner
as
a
community
college
transfer
who
was
blessed
to
be
able
to
attend
the
other
great
public
research
system
in
our
country,
the
university
of
california.
H
I
submit
to
you
today
that
our
country
is
facing
two
pandemics.
Two
wicked
wicked
pandemics
and
both
of
these
pandemics
are
leaving
in
their
wake
extraordinary
suffering
and
losses
in
our
communities.
The
two
pandemics
are
the
the
pandemic.
We
all
know
they
called
it
19
that
is
extracting
enormous
pain
and
suffering
in
our
communities
of
color.
H
Racialized
inequality
and
the
crushing
burden
of
student
debt
will
come
out
of
our
collective
work
in
the
policy
domain
to
move
the
needle
towards
a
more
humane,
a
more
equitable,
a
more
just,
a
higher
education
system
that
enables
our
youth
enables
our
youth
to
to
quote
my
colleagues
in
their
earlier
presentations
to
want
to
have
the
audacity
of
pursuing
higher
education
without
bearing
the
wicked
wicked
burden,
crippling
burden
of
student
debt.
Let
me
give
you
some
numbers
to
complement
my
colleague,
dr
santiago.
H
Think
about
it
is
young
people
pursuing
as
a
ricardo,
as
counselor
ricardo
arroyo
reminded
us,
the
audacity
of
pursuing
higher
education
that
is
costing
them
enormous,
enormous
challenges
moving
forward.
It
can't
be
that
a
city
like
boston
in
the
commonwealth
of
massachusetts,
the
city
that
gave
our
country
so
much
when
it
comes
to
education.
H
H
H
A
A
I
I
came
on
as
a
co-sponsor
and
I'm
the
chair
of
this
hearing
and
while
my
heart
is
living
these
realities
still
to
this
day,
I
I
want
to
make
sure
that
you
know
that
the
woman
who
is
in
charge
and
who
brought
this
to
the
forefront
is
my
my
sister-in-service,
who
works
with
me
on
all
things
that
deal
with
equity
issues
in
the
education
space.
So.
A
She's
a
true
champion
when
it
comes
to
issues
that
are
impacting
black
and
latinx
students,
so
I
just
wanted
to
make
sure
that
everybody
knew
for
the
record
so
and-
and
you
were
so
awesome-
you
were
definitely
right
on
brand
with
umass
boston,
that
fire
and
that
passion
comes
right
through
chancellor.
They
did
a
great
job,
picking
you.
So
I
am
looking
forward
to
your
tenure
and
your
time
with
us.
I'm
gonna
go
on
next
to
dr
valerie
robinson,
president
of
roxbury
community
college.
You
now
have
the
floor.
I
I
We
greatly
appreciate,
as
commissioner
santiago
mentioned,
the
mayor's
initiative
for
free
tuition
for
bps
graduates,
and
we
have
many
students
who
have
taken
advantage
of
this
program.
However,
do
note
that
this
program
is
only
eligible
for
traditional
students
at
rcc,
our
average
age
is
30.,
and
so
there
are
many
more
students
who
could
benefit
from
programs
like
this,
but
they're
not
eligible
students
at
rcc
enroll,
because
they
realize
that
higher
education
has
the
power
to
change
their
lives.
I
Specifically,
a
new
york
times
article
a
couple
of
years
ago,
looked
at
all
students
across
the
united
states
and
the
impact
of
college
completion
on
future
earnings.
They
found
that
students
who
completed
their
studies
at
rcc
or
bunker
hill,
I
have
to
say,
will
advance
their
income
by
two
quartiles
or,
in
other
words
completing
an
associate's
degree,
can
actually
move
students
out
of
poverty.
I
I
In
addition,
students
of
color
and
low-income
students,
typically
borrow
more
money,
for
the
same
degree,
are
more
likely
to
borrow
money
to
complete
their
associate's
degree
program
and
are
more
likely
to
enroll
in
higher
price
for
co.
For-Profit
colleges
taking
out
a
loan
for
college,
can
have
the
worst
impact
for
those
who
default,
and
this
is
some
that
was
already
stated
by
the
counselors
here,
but
again,
black
and
brown
students,
low-income
students,
are
the
most
likely
victims.
I
Students
who
complete,
who
are
the
most
likely
to
default,
take
out
the
least
amount
of
money.
Students
with
the
least
education
completed
are
the
most
likely
to
fall
behind
in
their
payments.
So
just
as
an
example,
30
of
students
with
less
than
an
associate's
degree,
so
they
didn't
complete
their
associate's
degree,
are
behind
in
their
payments.
I
I
You
might
ask
how
many
students
graduate
from
rcc
what
is
their
average
debt?
I
will
tell
you
that
it's
zero
zero.
That
is
because
we
made
a
conscious
decision
not
to
participate
in
the
federal
loan
program
because
of
the
statistics
that
I've
cited
right
here
and
in
fact,
part
of
my
convictions
come
from
some
of
my
experiences
in
my
first
two
jobs.
I
One
was,
I
worked
at
household
finance
in
a
very
poor
area
of
chicago
and
my
job
was
to
extend
loans.
I
actually
was
reprimanded
by
my
boss,
because
I
was
in
trouble
for
trying
to
explain
the
terms
of
taking
out
the
loans
and
especially
to
immigrant
families,
who
I
knew
did
not
understand
english
well
enough
to
understand
what
I
was
trying
to
convey,
and
my
second
experience
was.
A
Thank
you
for
thank
you
for
being
here.
I
am
going
to
just
acknowledge
quickly
that
we've
been
joined
by
counselor
bach,
and
I
know
that
counselor
flynn
forgot
to
use
his
blue
hand,
but
I'm
gonna.
Let
him
slide
and
give
him
an
opportunity
to
say
to
share
a
few
opening
remarks
and
then
I
will
have
my
colleague
counselor
bach
do
the
same
so
counselor
flynn.
You
now
have
the
floor.
J
Thank
you.
Thank
you
councilman
here
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
council,
mejia
and
councillor
janie
for
their
important
work
on
this
issue.
They've
been
real
champions
of
making
sure
that
our
students
have
an
opportunity
to
go
to
colleges
like
everybody
else,
regardless
of
income,
and
so
I
want
to
applaud
counselor
janey
council
mejia
for
the
tremendous
work
you're
doing.
J
I
think
the
the
real
unsung
heroes
and
in
the
city
of
boston,
giving
so
many
people,
quoting
our
immigrant
community
communities
of
color,
an
opportunity
to
get
a
decent
education,
as
if
you
like
everybody
else,
doesn't
matter
if
you're
from
wellesley
or
any
of
these
fancy
suburbs,
roxbury,
community
college
and
and
bunker
hill
community
college
is
there
to
stand
up
for
working
class
and
low-income
families.
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
you,
president
robinson,
and
appreciate
all
the
work
that
you're
doing
getting
a
decent
education
shouldn't
just
be
for
the
wealthy.
J
It
should
also
be
for
low-income
families.
It
should
be
for
our
immigrant
communities
and
those
that
may
not
speak
english.
So
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
panelists
for
the
tremendous
work
that
you're
doing
and
trying
to
help
students,
especially
during
this
difficult
time
of
of
saving
money
paying
for
tuition
in
in
the
student
debt
crisis
we
have
in
the
city
in
the
country.
Thank
you,
council
mejia.
Thank
you,
council,
president
janey,
as
well.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
councillor
flynn,
for
your
continued
support
and
advocacy
on
all
things
that
are
impacting
our
immigrant
communities.
I
really
do
appreciate
how
hard
you
go
for
our
people.
Thank
you
for
being
here
with
us
today
as
well.
So
I'd
like
to
invite
the
professor
of
the
family,
counselor
bach,
you
not
have
the
floor.
K
Thank
you
so
much,
and
I
just
want
to
say
I'm
sorry
to
be
late
to
this,
but
my
aide,
henry
santana
has
been
taking
excellent
notes
all
along,
so
I've
just
caught
up
quickly
on
what
people
have
said.
I
just
really
appreciate
all
of
you
being
here
with
us
and
it's
such
an
important
issue.
As
councilor
mahia
says
I
do
teach
college
students,
but
I
just
think
I
think
it's
really
wrong
that
in
this
country
we,
you
know
we
should
celebrate.
K
Rightly
the
value
of
education
and
the
doors
it
can
unlock
to
people,
but
be
silent
about
the
ways
in
which
we're
attaching
to
that
dream.
This
incredible
burden
of
debt
that
so
often
prevents
people
from
doing
with
their
education,
what
they
had
hoped
to
do
and
that
forms
such
a
barrier
for
so
many
of
our
low-income
students-
and
I
just
I
think
it's
such
an
important
issue
and
anything
that
we
can
do
from
the
council
side
to
make
it
better
to
draw
attention
to
the
issue
to
drive
federal
and
state
action.
K
A
I'd
like
to
move
on
to
I'd
like
to
also
thank
dr
robinson
for
your
remarks,
and
I
would
love
to
create
an
opportunity
for
the
one
and
only
claudio
martinez
who
is
in
addition,
in
addition
to
being
the
executive
director
of
zero
debt,
massachusetts
has
been
instrumental
in
putting
this
hearing
together,
who
is
a
lifelong
community
organizer
and
when
we
talk
about
all
things
that
are
impacting
young
people,
claudio
has
always
been
on
the
forefront
of
that
conversation.
So
claudio
martinez
do
not
have
the
floor.
Welcome.
L
L
We
are
also
a
network
of,
inter
generational
activists
and
organizations
fighting
for
student
borrower
protections
reinvestment
in
public,
higher
education
and
a
higher
education
system
that
is
free
from
student
that,
like
in
so
many
countries
around
the
world
for
many
years.
I
work
with
hundreds
of
teens
and
young
students
to
support
their
dreams
for
most
of
them
being
the
first
ones
to
graduate
from
college.
In
their
families
today
they
are
college
graduates
and
their
20s
and
30s
with
fun
and
creative
and
important
jobs.
L
L
It
has
rather
revealed
the
ways
in
which
our
economic
health
law
enforcement
and
higher
education
systems
to
name
a
few
are
already
deeply
dysfunctional
inequalities
that
have
led
black
people,
community
of
colors
and
low
income.
People
suffering
the
greatest
effects
of
the
ongoing
crisis
are
the
very
same
of
those
which
make
those
same
groups
the
most
vulnerable
to
the
effects
of
a
student
that
crisis.
L
When
the
greater
boston
area
net
worth
of
black
households
is
eight
dollars
and
the
median
net
worth
of
white
households
is
247
000.
It
stands
to
reason
that
black
and
latinx
borrowers
take
on
a
greater
debt
burden
to
finance
their
education
and
their
delinquency,
and
default
rates
are
disproportionately
higher
than
that
of
their
white
counterparts.
L
L
That
time
has
is
not
an
individual
problem.
It's
a
community
problem,
it's
our
city
and
our
states
and
where,
as
we
just
heard
higher
education
institutions,
a
problem
also
it's
important
to
know
that
our
black
latinx
low
income
and
first-generation
students
are
more
likely
to
be
abused
by
unscrupulous
debt
collectors
and
unregulated
student
loan
servicers,
and
that's
why
we
need
a
student
loan
bill
of
rights
like
the
one
being
debated
in
the
legislature
at
this
time.
A
This
is
the
moment
in
time
and
I'm
so
happy
that,
where
we
have
the
most
diverse
council
in
the
history
and
it's
being
led
by
a
woman
who
is
relentless
when
it
comes
to
racial
equity,
and
so
this
is
the
moment
in
time
for
us
to
really
move
forward
and
so
gladly
we're
really
excited
and
grateful
for
your
partnership
in
this.
So
thank
you.
So
I'd
love
to
give
kate
well
back.
You
are
from
the
student
borrower
protection
center,
we'd
love
to
invite
you
to
to
speak.
M
And
so,
while
this
is
the
national
crisis
that
touches
45
million
borrowers
in
every
corner
of
this
country,
we
know
that
cities
are
on
the
front
lines
and,
as
I've
heard
all
tonight,
hearing
everyone's
stories
and
you
all
see
and
know
firsthand
the
fallout
of
the
student
debt
crisis
facing
boston
communities.
And
you
see
that
firsthand
and
so
we're
talking
about
boston.
M
Specifically
it's
home
to
more
than
900
000
student
loan
borrowers
each
going
on
average,
more
than
37
thousand
dollars
in
student
debt,
and
so
again,
as
we've
heard
echo
throughout
the
evening,
this
burden
ripples
across
their
financial
lives.
So
it's
affecting
borrowers
abilities
to
buy
homes,
to
start
families
and
even
save
for
retirement,
and
so
this
burden
is
amplified
for
those
financially
distressed
borrowers
and
for
local
communities,
and
so
we
know
that
all
student
loan
borrowers
are
not
bearing
this
burden.
M
Equally,
as
we've
heard
black
and
white
net
black
and
latinx
borrowers
are
in
a
vicious
cycle
when
we're
talking
about
student
debt.
So
as
a
result
of
the
racial
wealth
gap,
you
have
black
and
latinx
bars,
who
are
less
likely
to
be
able
to
draw
upon
familial
wealth,
to
pay
for
higher
education
and
so
then
disproportionately
take
on
more
debt
to
go
to
school,
graduate
with
higher
debt
burdens
and
disproportionately
struggle
and
repayment,
and
so
without
action.
M
That
cycle
stands
to
repeat
when
their
kids
go
to
college,
and
so,
as
a
result,
you
can
imagine
when
we're
talking
about
how
the
student
debt
crisis
is
playing
out
in
boston
neighborhoods,
whether
it's
grove
hall,
whether
it's
roxbury,
whether
it's
matapan
you
know,
research
has
shown
that
the
racial
composition
of
a
borrower's
neighborhood
is
closely
correlated
with
whether
or
not
they're
going
to
struggle
when
they're
paying
their
student
loan
debt,
and
so
the
presence
of
these
disparities
at
the
neighborhood
level.
Again
as
a
result
of
a
long-standing
legacy
and
persistence
of
racial
segregation.
M
Economic
exclusionary
economic
policy
is
really
created
into
this
racial
wealth
gap
and
so
the
severity
of
these
disparities
really
calling
us
to
analyze
the
impact,
justice
and
economic,
racial,
economic
justice
lens,
and
so,
after
being
fortunate,
the
frontlines
of
the
student
debt
crisis.
You
cities
like
boston,
really
remain
uniquely
poised
to
be
able
to
use
cutting-edge
research
to
develop
innovative
policy
policy
solutions
to
help
alleviate
these
debt
burdens
for
borrowers
across
the
city,
and
fortunately
you
don't
need
to
do
that
from
scratch.
M
The
report
from
the
research
was
then
able
to
inform
information
about
that
disparities
across
the
bay
area
and
so
building
on
that
foundational
research
as
claudio
was
describing
the
swpc
we're
now
helping
san
francisco
identify
those
hot
spots
right
so
where
city
intervention
is
most
needed
to
reach
borrowers.
So
through
this
collaboration,
we've
helped
san
francisco
estimate
that
nearly
three
hundred
thousand
bay
area
borrowers
in
lincoln,
specific
neighborhoods,
where
they're
most
likely
to
reside,
would
benefit
from
existing
government
programs
to
provide
student
debt
relief.
M
But
that
really,
but
those
borrowers
had
failed
to
benefit
from
those
protections
before
and
so
by
targeting
repayment
resources
at
points
in
which
at-risk
borrowers
are
already
engaging
city
programs,
san
francisco
will
be
able
to
leverage
existing
existing
intervention
channels
to
alleviate
student
debt
distress,
and
so
similar
things
can
be
done
in
boston,
and
so,
while
older
existing
data
suggests
that
boston.
You
know
we
already
know
that
these
disparities
exist.
M
When
we
get
that
more
granular
research,
it's
able
to
inform
lasting
effective
policy
interventions,
and
so
new
data
could
allow
boston
to
identify
key
mechanisms
for
intervention
and
protect
student
loan.
Borrowers
as
well,
as
you
know,
empower
researchers
to
know
more
unique
ways
about
the
way
that
student
debt
is
affecting
boston
communities,
and
so
I
know
I'm
getting.
N
M
You
really
can
redefine
it
and
you
and
be
able
to
center
the
communities
that
are
often
too
often
forced
to
the
margins
and
and
many
of
those
are
the
same
ones
that
have
been
hit
hardest
hit
by
the
pandemic
and
so
okay.
So
we're
really
coming
to
boston
takes
the
critical
steps
of
really
exposing
the
true
cost
of
student
debt
across
neighborhoods,
and
I
urge
the
community,
the
committee
to
work
towards
the
advancement
of
this
research.
Thank
you
again
for
the
opportunity.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you
so
much
for
that,
and
I
think
that
boston
is
uniquely
positioned
to
be
able
to
to
be
one
of
the
front
four-facing
cities
to
to
bring
about
this
change.
After
all,
we
are
the
birthplace
of
education
and
we
have,
when
the
biggest
college
town
and
it's
a
shame,
that
most
of
the
people
who
live
in
the
city
of
boston
can't
afford
to
even
work
here,
because
they
are
struggling
with
37
000
worth
of
debt,
which
is
crazy.
A
O
Good
evening
and
thank
you,
council
president
jamie
and
councilor
mejia
and
my
district
counselor
arroyo
and
all
the
city
councilors
that
are
here
today
for
inviting
me
to
share
you
know
my
public
comments.
My
name
is
vanessa
snow.
I
work
as
a
community
and
labor
organizer,
but
today
I'm
testifying
as
a
lifelong
boston,
resident
and
alum
of
the
boston,
public
schools
and
umass
amherst
and
the
holder
of
about
twenty
eight
thousand
dollars
in
student
loan
debt.
But
at
one
point
it
was
closer
to
sixty.
O
I
attended
boston
line
academy
which
really
prides
itself
on
being
a
school
that
prepares
the
majority
of
its
students
to
attend
college,
and
so
college
was
always
a
goal
that
my
parents
and-
and
I
had
for
myself,
and
so
it
wasn't
a
question
about
whether
or
not
I
would
attend.
But
I
was
a
I
was
a
senior
in
2005
and
around
that
time
there
was
a
lot.
There
was
a
lot
of
attention
being
placed
on.
O
You
know
how
few
bps
students
were
actually
enrolling
in
higher
education,
and
so
you
know,
I
think
there
was
a
commitment
from
the
city
and
the
districts
and
the
philanthropic
community
to
support
community
organizations
in
helping
ups
students
access
higher
education.
So
you
know
I
was
part
of
high
school
task
force's
path
to
college
and
career
program.
O
O
O
I
grew
up
in
that
I
have
booths
in
that
I've.
You
know
dedicated
all
of
my
community
activism
and
and
service
to,
and
we
saw
in
in
the
boston
globe
that
you
know
a
lot
of
my
peers.
You
know
we
went
to
college,
you
know
just
like
the
district
invested
in
us
to
and
then
we
cut
and
then
you
know
we
end
up
having
to
take
our
talent
and
our
resources
elsewhere
outside
of
the
city.
O
You
know
which
is
just
like
under
what
I'm,
what
I'm
paying
for
rent
but
pretty
close,
and
so
just
some
solutions
that
I'm
thinking
about
is
that
you
know
we
need
to
get
the
private
universities,
which
are,
you
know,
exponentially
more
expensive
to
step
up
and
offer
debt-free
higher
education
to
boston
residents.
You
know
they
currently
pay
no
property
taxes
and
they
don't
comply
with
the
pilot,
even
though
I'm
really
excited
to
see
that
counselor
bach
is
working.
O
Is
working
hard
on
on
on
that
and
getting
the
property
values
assessed?
I
think
the
city
council
can
show
support
for
the
student
loan
borrowers
bill
of
rights
at
the
states.
That's
it
currently
in
the
state
senate
and
then
I
think
I
think
it'd
be
really
great.
If
the
city
council
could
could
work
on
on
some
sort
of
report
or
study
to
understand
how
this
burden
has
affected
our
low-income
communities
and
perhaps
establish
some
regulation
to
monitor
student
loan
services,
and
that's
basically
it
sorry
if
I
took
too
long,
it's.
A
Okay,
she
already
solved
all
the
problems.
Y'all
we're
done.
Okay,
thank
you.
So
much
for
all
those
amazing
recommendations,
vanessa.
I
think
that
you
know
we
have
the
council
here
listening
in
counselors
who
are
paying
attention,
and
this
also
is
being
recorded,
and
I'm
sure
my
colleagues
will
also
take
a
listen
in
and
also
support.
These
efforts
so
really
do
appreciate
the
valuable
recommendations
that
you've
made.
A
I
always
talk
about
how
important
it
is
to
lead
with
the
voices
of
the
people,
and
I
know
we
have
some
folks
who
are
signed
up
for
public
testimony,
I'm
going
to
do
things
a
little
bit
out
of
order.
Normally
we
give
an
opportunity
for
the
panelists
to
our
colleagues
to
ask
questions
to
the
panelists,
but
I'd
love
to
be
able
to
just
bring
in
a
few
voices
from
public
testimony
before
we
dive
into
the
questions.
If
that's
okay
with
my
colleagues,
yes,
okay,
thank
you
so
much
for
that.
A
I
am
going
to
ask
so
since
most
of
our
folks,
who
were
lined
up
for
public
testimony
were
probably
not
prepared
to
speak
so
soon.
I
don't
want
to
catch
you
off
guard,
but
I'm
hoping
if
I
call
your
name
you'll,
be
able
to
join
us
for
your
public
testimony.
I'd
like
to
invite
peter
barros
to
share
your
public
testimony
with
us.
If
you
are
able
to
do
so.
B
B
I
attended
umass
amherst
in
umass
amherst
in
the
2000s,
and
to
just
think
about
the
fact
that
the
price
of
umass
has
gone
up
considerably
since
I
attended
in
the
mid-2000s,
and
so
I'm
here
to
testify.
Yes
about
my
own
experience,
but
also
on
behalf
of
the
hundreds
of
students.
I've
had
the
privilege
to
support
over
my
career.
B
While
I
would
like
to
discuss
the
crisis
that
is
being
faced
across
the
country
today
right,
I
want
to
talk
about
boston
and
massachusetts.
In
general,
my
career
has
been
dedicated
to
helping
young
people
from
low-income
communities
and
predominantly
black
indigenous
people
of
color
apply
to
choose,
attend
and
graduate
from
college.
B
I've
tried
my
hardest
to
guide
these
students
to
make
responsible
choices,
but
I
have
to
worry
today
about
you
know
the
what
I've
been
helping
them
do,
go
off
to
college,
take
on
financial
burden,
and
I
think
you
know
over
the
past
13
years.
How
are
these
students
doing?
How
are
they
doing
with
their
debt?
Have
I've
done
them
a
disservice
when,
ultimately,
the
goal
is
to
have
our
young
people
go
to
college
college
is
widely
considered
a
way
of
achieving
the
american
dream
right.
B
B
B
B
When
we
see
the
student
debt
crisis
and
and
we're
not
we're
not
ensuring
that
all
students
have
access
to
free
public,
higher
education,
free
access
to
community
college
massachusetts
prides
itself
on
being
a
state
right
where
the
first
was
founded.
The
first
public
high
school
was
founded.
Massachusetts
has
some
of
the
highest
performing
schools
in
the
country,
and
yet,
when
it
comes
to
higher
ed,
I
worry
that
we're
we're
far
more
committed
to
not
our
own
resident.
A
P
Hi
good
evening,
thank
you
so
much
for
this
and
holding
this
and
giving
people
an
opportunity
to
speak.
This
is
such
an
important
topic,
especially
as
we
move
forward.
Millennials
and
gen
x's
are
becoming
the
larger
demographic
in
the
united
states,
and
this
is
a
big
passing
issue
for
our
generation
and
as
a
result
of
that,
there
are
so
many
problems
surrounding
that.
So
I
guess
first
off
before
I
dive
in,
I
would
like
to
introduce
myself.
My
name
is
asha
garrett,
I'm
a
native
bostonian.
P
I
grew
up
in
the
neighborhood
of
roxbury
and
I
also
was
born
in
mattapan.
I
lived
in
boston,
most
of
my
life.
Most
recently
I
moved
to
dc
five
years
ago,
and
I've
been
working
for
the
us
government
and
I'm
a
former
political
appointee
for
the
obama
administration,
and
I
wanted
to
talk
to
you
about
what's
going
on,
especially
with
my
generation
and
with
a
lot
of
my
friends.
P
Is
that
because
of
student
loans
and
all
the
difficulties
surrounding
that
and
understanding
the
education,
like
a
lot
of
people
have
highlighted
like
the
education
is
not
there
and
if
you're
a
person
like
me,
you're
a
first
generation
college
student,
your
parents,
like
my
father,
didn't
even
graduate
high
school.
He
went
right
off
into
the
war
and
went
to
vietnam.
P
It's
hard
to
understand
these
things.
It's
hard
to
understand
like
what
do
you
actually
know?
How
do
you
do
this?
And
if
you're
lucky
enough
to
be
like
me,
who
was
able
to
go
to
private
school
on
scholarship,
then
you
start
to
encounter
the
issues
later
on
when
you
start
to
move
up
and
you
go
to
graduate
school
and,
unfortunately,
if
you
want
to
live
on
the
east
coast,
if
you
want
to
live
in
boston,
you
need
a
graduate
school
degree.
P
You
have
people
like
me
who
end
up
having
to
move
somewhere
else,
because
we
can't
afford
to
live
in
a
city
that
we
grew
up
in.
We
can't
afford
because
jobs
don't
pay
enough
or
we
don't
have
enough
education
and
then
we're
starting
out
in
the
whole
from
student
loan
debt,
and
on
top
of
that,
many
of
us
are
also
beholden
to
taking
care
of
our
parents.
Boston
used
to
be
a
very
much
a
working
class
city,
and
so
many
of
us
and
everything
have
parents
and
grandparents
that
we
are
also
responsible
for
that.
P
We
also
have
to
take
care
of,
and
then
we're
trying
to
be
future
thinking
and
bring
kids
and
have
those
things.
So
I
implore
the
city
council,
I
implore
people
and
everything
to
really
think
about
how
to
go
about
this
and
to
raise
this
issue
up.
As
someone
said,
boston
is
a
city
of
many
first
and
so
passing
legislation
passing
policies
and
everything
can
really
impact,
not
just
boston,
but
the
country
as
a
whole.
P
We
can
really
serve
as
a
model
in
the
way
we
have
served
as
a
model
many
times
over
and
before
I'm
happy
to
email
and
send
out
possible
recommendations.
Things
that
I've
worked
on
our
policy
that
I
have
seen
in
my
experience.
Working
for
the
federal
government
there's
a
number
of
ways.
You
can
go
about
this
from
tax
incentives
or
tax
breaks,
and
I
I
really
hope
that
something
comes
from
this.
Thank
you
so
much.
A
Q
I
am
here,
thank
you
so
much
councillor
mejia
good
evening
counselors.
Thank
you
for
hosting
this
hearing.
Thank
you
for
the
panelists
for
your
expertise
and
perspectives.
My
name
is
annika
van
eaton
and
I'm
the
massachusetts
policy
director
for
u.s
fire,
an
organization
founded
and
based
here
in
boston,
u.s
fire
advises
high
school
and
college
students
to
navigate
the
financial
aid
process
with
the
goal
of
completing
an
affordable
college
education
through
our
work.
We
know
that
in
massachusetts,
there's
simply
not
an
affordable,
four-year
option.
Q
We
advise
high
school
students
here
in
boston,
as
well
as
in
cambridge
fall,
river,
malden
and
somerville,
and
the
majority
of
the
students
we
advise
live
in.
Low-Income
households
are
black
or
latino,
and
or
are
the
first
in
their
families
to
go
to
college,
and
over
the
past
three
years,
we've
reviewed
over
5
000
financial
aid
offers,
with
over
2
300
high
school
students
and
the
vast
majority
91
percent
received
a
financial
aid
offer
containing
student
loans.
Q
A
A
Please
be
advised
that
I
will
be
absent
from
today's
hearing
on
docket
0888
regarding
the
impact
of
the
pandemic
on
residents
with
student
debt,
I
am
currently
hosting
a
previous
scheduled
event
with
boston
parents
and
families.
On
dyslexia.
I
will
review
the
recording
of
the
hearing.
Despite
my
absence,
I
would
like
to
offer
my
support
for
a
student
debt
burden
report
as
well
as
any
steps
we
can
take
to
support
our
residents
struggling
with
the
financial
burdens
of
this
pandemic
and
their
student
debt
with
so
many
stable
middle
class
jobs
require.
A
So
many
excuse
me
so
many
us
so
many
stable
middle
class
jobs
require
higher
education
degrees,
but
in
the
process
we
saddle
too
many
with
mountains
of
debt.
I
had
a
student
debt
and
collectively
three
members
of
my
staff
currently
have
over
a
hundred
thousand
in
student
debt,
given
the
high
number
of
recent
graduates
who
remain
in
boston,
supporting
them
as
part
of
our
pandemic
recovery
would
be
critical,
not
just
for
their
lives
but
for
the
city.
Thank
you.
A
A
C
Madam
chair
and
please
feel
free
to
keep
a
timer
on
me,
and
certainly
my
colleagues.
There
is
a
lot
of
interest
here.
I
know
other
colleagues
are
here
and
will
want
to
chime
in,
and
there
are
a
lot
of
panelists
and
people
have
offered
amazing
testimony.
So
I'll
start
with
my
thank
yous,
and
let
me
just
be
real,
clear
and
explicit
in
terms
of
the
report.
C
You've
heard
a
number
of
panelists
mention
the
importance
of
a
study
of
this
issue
at
the
local
level
for
boston
students,
which
I
completely
wholeheartedly
support,
and
I
know
our
chairwoman
supports
as
well
and
that's
why
it
is
in
the
actual
hearing
order
and
so
on.
The
council
side-
and
I
you've
heard
counselor
asabi
george
talk
about
it
and
I
would
assume
other
colleagues
here
would
support
the
importance
of
a
study
to
see
how
our
students
are
are
being
impacted.
C
I
heard
president
robertson
mentioned
a
program
that
it
was
geared
toward
traditional
students
that
there
is
a
program
there,
where
they're
not
they're,
going
to
graduate
student
student
debt
free
because
they're
going
to
make
sure.
But
someone
like
me
who
went
to
a
community
college
for
two
years
but
started
when
I
was
24
years
old.
I
wouldn't
have
been
eligible
for
that
kind
of
program,
and
so
there
there's
lots
of
ways
that
people
are
slipping
through
the
cracks
here
in
boston.
C
I
I
would
like
to
one
just
understand
more
of
the
playing
field.
What
currently
exists
in
terms
of
tuition
reimbursement?
Now,
some
of
that's
going
to
be
employer
specific.
So
I
know
you
won't
be
able
to
answer,
but
if
there
are
programs
or
opportunities
that
are
offered
at
the
the
college
level,
around
tuition,
reimbursement
or
some
sort
of
loan
forgiveness-
or
I
know,
there's
a
program
I
think
at
harvard
for
students
who
can
get
into
harvard
who
meet
a
certain
income
requirement,
they
can
go
tuition,
free,
etc,
etc.
C
You
just
laid
it
out
perfectly
why
this
is
such
a
challenge
and
why
the
city
of
boston
has
to
care
about
this.
Because
of
the
retention
of
this
is
a
health
and
wealth
issue
for
us
in
our
city
and
also
a
brain
drain
scenario,
because
we
do
see,
particularly
in
black
and
brown
communities,
when
black
and
brown
folks
do
go
away
for
school.
Oftentimes
they're
not
coming
back,
because
there's
not
a
lot
that
that
are
that
they
can
do
here,
particularly
when
they
want
to
be
able
to
pay
off
their
debt.
C
They
can't
live
in
a
city
where
they're
going
to
spend
all
of
the
money
that
they
earn
from
the
their
good
paying
job
on
their
their
housing
costs.
So
if
someone
could
kind
of
just
lay
out
where
we
are
in
terms
of
opportunity
for
debt
reduction
or
or
tuition
free
in
in
boston
or
through
the
commonwealth,.
O
C
F
We
we
don't
for
our
our
public
institutions.
Private
institutions
may
have
some
some
specific
program,
but
you
know
for
us:
it's
two-thirds
of
the
students
of
color
that
are
graduating
from
our
high
schools
and
going
on
to
college
go
to
our
community
colleges,
and
that's
where
I
think
it
really
is,
is
about
making
sure
that
tuition
and
fees
and
and
and
other
other
costs
are,
are
covered.
F
The
mass
grant
plus
program,
the
one
that
we
recently
adopted,
also
includes
part-time
students
and
that's
one
where
our
president,
like
president
roberson,
came
out
and
said:
look
we
need
to
include
part-time
students,
it
makes
it
makes
a
huge
difference,
but
you
know
the
real
struggle
that
we
have.
If
you
look
at
massachusetts
and
financial
aid
and
that's
only
part,
debt
forgiveness
is
one
issue,
but
we're
trying
to
get
money
into
the
hands
of
students
while
they're
going
through.
F
F
We
have
about
the
same
population
as
tennessee
tennessee
ranks
in
the
first
quartile
tennessee
puts
in
300
million
dollars.
Tennessee
is
nowhere
near
massachusetts
in
terms
of
its
income
per
capita.
So,
while
we
are
among
the
wealthiest
states
in
the
nation,
we
are
among
the
worst
in
terms
of
putting
financial
aid,
and
that's
one
of
the
things
that
we've
been
trying
to
to
build
back,
because
you
know
our
students
of
color
in
particular,
rely
on
both
federal
and
state
financial
aid.
C
C
C
We've
had
the
the
opening
up
the
panel
with
public
testimony,
which
I
think
was
great
chairwoman,
mejia
to
kind
of
just
set
the
stage
with
real
people
who
are
experiencing
this
debt
firsthand
I'd
be
interested.
If
anyone
on
the
panel
wants
to
to
answer
what
kind
of
parameters
or
criteria
do
we
want
this
report
to
kind
of
lift
up
for
us
if
we
could
get,
you
know
on
on
the
mayor's
side,
as
well
as
on
the
fed
side
or
whoever
might
partner
on
the
outside,
to
get
such
a
report
done.
C
What
is
it
that
we
want
this
report
to
cover?
Should
we
spend
some
of
my
time?
I've
got
lots
of
data
questions,
trying
to
understand
the
issue
better
and
how
it's
impacting
students
of
color,
and
I
could
spend
a
lot
of
time
doing
that.
But,
since
this
you
know,
concrete
solution
has
come
up
in
terms
of
helping
us
understand,
specifically
how
it's
impacting
boston
students
of
color.
I'd,
wonder
what
we'd
put
in
such
a
report
or
what?
What
kinds
of
questions
would
we
want
answered?
E
A
N
A
L
Yes,
a
great
question:
we
have
asked
the
other
cities
that
have
produced
their
reports
for
their
data
set
questions
and
they
have
provided
them
to
us.
I'm
going
to
ask
our
colleague
from
the
student
borrowers
protection
center
to
give
us
perhaps
more
of
the
detail
of
those
questions
in
a
short
summary,
because
it's
a
it's
a
lot
of
data
questions.
M
M
But,
for
example,
if
it's
looking
at
zip
code
leveled
at
the
zip
code
level,
also
comparing
that
with
the
fed's
credit
panel
data,
so
it
might
have
the
level
of
delinquency
and
or
how
many
borrowers
are
delinquent
default
and
then
being
able
to
kind
of
cross-reference
that,
with
the
racial
composition
of
that
zip
code,
so
you're
able
to
kind
of
get
a
more
granular
idea
of.
What's
going
on
in
each
different.
One.
K
O
I
think
you
know
you're
dealing
with
like
a
different
type
of
wealth,
but
if
we're
looking
at
what
are
the
pathways,
like,
you
know
as
you're
encouraging
boston,
public
schools,
students
who
are
majority
students
of
color
majority
working
class.
You
know
to
go
to
college.
What
impact
is
that
really
having
in
our
in
our
neighborhood.
I
And-
and
I
would
also
add,
since
the
the
work
has
been
done
through
the
mayor's
office
of
workforce
through
trend
nguyen's
office-
that
you
ask
for
some
detail
on
the
data
that's
been
collected,
given
the
new
scholarship
from
for
bps
students.
So
there's
about
three
years
of
statistics
that
can
be
gathered
to
see
what
the
effect
of
offering
that
scholarship
has
been
and
who's
been
served
by
those
dollars.
A
A
A
I
know
living
in
poverty
is
a
mental
health
weight
that
we
all
carry
the
burden
of,
and
I'm
just
curious
as
to
whether
or
not
you
can
talk
a
little
bit
about
if
there's
anything
that
you've
learned
around
student
debt
as
it
relates
to
a
trauma
informed
lens.
Has
there
been
any
communi,
you
know
any
any
data
or
any
information
out
there
that
looks
at
the
correlation
between
student
debt
and
trauma.
L
L
L
I
think,
as
a
father
of
someone
that
attended
northeastern
university
12
years
ago
too
many
restaurants,
too
many
tvs
too
many
gyms.
Is
it
higher
education
really
about
all
these
things
shouldn't?
We
perhaps
spend
the
money
on
tutors
and
mentors
which
has
been
proven
is
the
best
thing.
Our
low
income,
black
latinx
and
people
from
our
communities
will
benefit
the
most
please
save
the
gyms
is
my
advice,
but
let's
try
to
envision
a
new
type
of
higher
ed,
that's
good
for
all.
A
Thank
you
for
that
claudio.
I
really
do
appreciate
that.
I'm
going
to
my
next
question
is
going
to
be
for
chancellor
suarez,
I'm
wondering
you
know.
Umass
boston
has
a
lot
of
students
from
different
parts
of
the
world
who
speak
different
languages
and
I'm
just
curious
of
what
kind
of
language
access
services
are
available
for
students
who
need
to
take
out
loans,
I'm
just
curious
about
how
do
we
go
about
translating
and
then
how
many
students,
if
you
know,
are
currently
in
debt
and
if
you
happen
to
know
the
dollar.
H
H
H
We
at
umass
boston,
I'm
very,
very
proud
to
say,
educate
the
youth
and
these
students,
older
students
that
come
back
or
that
take
longer
because
of
the
vicissitudes
and
the
challenges
of
life,
to
complete
the
dream
of
a
college
degree.
We
serve
students
of
the
the
peninsula
of
the
city
of
the
commonwealth.
H
H
So
this
is
the
nature
of
how
the
algorithm
that
is
at
the
root
of
the
crushing
burden,
that
is,
student
debt
in
our
city
and
in
our
commonwealth,
has
come
about.
We
need
to
refocus
on
public
education,
no
city,
no
city
in
the
history
of
the
world
has
thrived
without
investing
in
its
public
higher
education.
H
A
Thank
you,
council.
I'm
gonna
upgrade
you
to
councillor
chancellor.
We
have
to
move
on,
I'm
getting
all
types
of
signals
that
we
need
to
keep
moving
on
I've
over
extended.
My
five
minutes.
I
did
have
a
question
for
vanessa,
but
I'll
save
it
for
my
next
round,
just
to
be
respectful
and
mindful
of
my
colleagues
I'd
like
to
now
move
on
just
giving
my
colleagues
an
opportunity.
A
A
D
Thank
you
and
I'm
gonna,
I'm
gonna
make
mine
just
one
question
and
thank
you.
Everybody
on
the
on
the
panel
specifically
on
this
panel
is
there
anything
currently
happening
on
a
municipal
level
that
can
either
be
amplified
or
supported,
and,
if
not,
if
there's
nothing
like
that
in
terms
of
addressing
student
loan
debt,
what
things
can
be
envisioned
in
terms
of
a
municipal
response
to
this
obviously
there's
a
bunch
of
different
ways.
G
A
C
I,
madam
chair,
if
I
would,
if
I
may
one
example-
and
I
want
to
certainly
hear
from
the
panelists,
but
one
example
is
our
advocacy
around
this
report
in
partnership
with
an
outside
entity.
So
could
be
the
fed
and
we've
got
that
as
hopefully
a
takeaway
that
we
are
able
to
run
with
and
get
done.
But
if
there's
something
addition
in
addition
to
that
that
someone
on
the
panel
wants
to.
F
Address
I
I
would
ask
president
roberson,
who
is
who
has
had
experience
with
the
the
boston
program
that
supports
students
in
her,
which
we
think
is
it's
it's
a
recent.
So
so
we
we
haven't
evaluated
it,
but
we
we're
hopeful
that
it's
working
well
and
it
gets
students
not
only
into
our
community
colleges
but
also
gets
them
on
the
road.
Because
then
we
pick
up
the
tab
when
they
go
for
a
a
four-year
degree
at
umass,
boston
or
any
other
institution
within
the
public
system.
F
I
Thank
you,
commissioner.
The
one
thing
I
will
say
is
that
for
the
students
who
come
directly
from
high
school,
it's
a
great
opportunity.
What
I'm
seeing
is
a
constantly
and
I'm
talking
to
parents
often
and
potential
students.
The
word
is
not
really
out
there,
so
people
don't
understand
that
this
is
an
opportunity
open
and
available
to
them
and
their
families.
So
that's
one
thing
that
I
think
might
be
missing
is
more
publicity
and
more
understanding,
especially
with
my
bps
partners,
so
that
they
understand
the
advantage
here.
A
O
Noticed
the
pilot
program,
the
pilot
program
universities,
are
allowed
to
include
the
financial
aid
that
they
offer
so,
for
instance,
like
boston
university.
They
actually
put
their
boss
their
bts
scholarship
program.
They
include
that
in
their
in
their
pot
in
their
pilot
reporting.
So
that's
also
another
another
city
area
to
look
into
in
terms
of
providing
more
financial
aid
to
students.
A
Thank
you
for
that
vanessa,
two
things.
I
know
that
claudio.
I
see
your
hand
up,
and
I
also
know
that
peter,
although
he's
not
an
official
panelist,
also
raised
his
hand,
but
I
am
all
about
all
means
all
and
giving
everyone
an
opportunity
to
be
heard
so
peter
I'm
gonna
go
first
to
claudio
and
then
to
you,
okay,
whether
you
now
have
the
floor.
L
Thank
you,
councilor
mejia,
in
answering
to
the
question
of
counselor
arroyo.
I
think
I
agree
with
the
prior
comments
of
many
of
the
panelists.
We
need
more
information
last
month
with
the
support
of
the
national
consumer
law
center
and
their
team
on
a
student
that
we
led
a
workshop
of
about
two
hours
that
really
clarified
to
everyone
present
the
complexities
of
this
system
of
student
loans.
L
You
not
only
have
to
be
a
lawyer
specialize
on
student
loans
to
really
understand
what
we
have
created
so
simplifying
that
for
residents
and
letting
them
know
of
their
rights
through.
Perhaps
a
similar
campaign
like
we
did
with
covid,
where
I
receive
at
my
home,
a
two-pager
saying
during
coffee.
Do
this
do
that
during
coffee,
the
student
borrowers
shouldn't
you
know
do
this:
they
should
do
that.
These
are
their
rights
and
this
is
who
they
can
call.
A
B
I'll
be
very,
very
quick.
I
I
just
think
it's
important
to
highlight
that
this
isn't
a
student
that
crisis
only
because
many
families
also
step
in
and
take
out
parent
plus
loans.
Grandparents
do
it.
So
it's
not
just
a
student
debt
crisis.
We
have
40
year
olds,
50
year
old,
60
year
old
parents,
grandparents
that
are
stepping
in
and
taking
out
10k
20k
to
help
their
students.
So
it's
it's
a
debt
crisis,
obviously
affecting
25
to
30
year
old.
A
That's
such
a
great
point
being
first
generation
it
took
the
entire
village
to
get
me
through
college.
My
mom
working
two
to
three
jobs,
also
because
I
didn't
have
the
best
credit
she
had
to
apply
for
certain
loans
on
my
behalf
and
as
a
result
of
that
also
incurred
a
lifetime
of
debt
still
right,
and
so
I
think
that
that's
a
really
valid
point
that
we
need
to
really
look
at
this
whole
conversation
in
terms
of
poverty,
intervention
and,
inter
and
interrupting
the
cycle
of
poverty.
A
I'm
just
wondering
whether
or
not
the
city
could
do
more
of
that,
and
maybe,
if,
if
you're,
going
to
be
doing
business
in
the
city
of
boston,
if
there's
ways
to
incentivize
some
of
these
employers
to
help
support
that.
That's
something
else
that
I
think
that
we
might
be
willing
to
explore
further,
but
I
did
go
off
course
here
wanted
to
make
sure
that
we
give
ricardo.
The
time
has
been
over,
but
you
know.
D
E
E
We've
talked
about
this
issue
so
much
and
your
leadership
on
this
issue,
along
with
everyone
else,
and
I
think
it's
really
important-
that
we
continue
to
inform
our
constituencies
that
these
systems
are
designed
in
such
a
way
to
create
the
debt
that
we
see
in
communities
and
sort
of
perpetuate
this
racial
wealth
gap
in
the
city
of
boston
and
in
this
country
I
mean
how
you
talked
about
bankruptcy
and
what
is
eligible,
and
what
isn't?
All
of
that?
E
I
think
people
don't
understand
the
level
of
intentionality
that
exists
in
systems
politic,
political
systems
and
government
systems
to
create
this.
So
I
think
us
educating
folks
around
that
is
incredibly
important.
I
also
wanted
to
just
raise
up.
I
know.
Council
arroyo
had
a
similar
question
that
I
would
have
asked
around
what
we
can
do
and
counselor
janie.
I
had
a
lot
of
questions
around
data,
so
I
fully
support
any
of
the
data
requests
or
reports
anything
I
can
do
to
to
assist
in
that
endeavor.
E
If
it's
pushing
people
to
fund
that
I
mean
you
have
incredible
philanthropic
institutions
right
here
in
boston
that
are
looking
at
so
many
issues
right
now
in
the
midst
of
covid.
That,
I
think,
would
love
to
be
a
part
of
this.
So
anything
I
can
do
I'll.
Tell
council,
mejia
and
janie
happy
to
support
those
efforts
around
the
data
and
paying
the
picture,
not
just
the
story
of
the
why
this
exists
in
communities
of
color
in
particular,
but
also
the
nature
and
the
extent
of
the
problem.
E
I
don't
think
I
fully
know
either
and
I
represent
largely
dorchester
matapan,
which
is
predominately
a
district
of
color,
a
whole
host
of
immigrant
communities
and
we
don't
have
a
sense
of
as
peter
was
suggesting
how
this
shows
up
for
the
individual
for
the
family
and
then,
of
course,
the
community
as
a
result.
So
anything
I
can
do
in
terms
of
that
information
gathering
would
be
count
me
in
as
a
supporter,
and
then
I
guess
my
last
question
outside
of
what
the
municipality
can
do.
E
So
what
boston
can
do
in
partnership
with
the
state
on
this
issue?
Employers
do
play
a
big
role,
I'm
thinking
already
about
just
the
role
we
are
pushing
them
to
play
in
the
early
ed
and
care
and
daycare
and
provider
care
conversation.
That
is
happening
right
now
where
people
are
recognizing
that
this
issue
connects
deeply
to
the
the
economy
in
our
country,
and
so
employers
are
stepping
up
in
different
ways.
So
I'm
curious,
what
are
employers
doing?
What?
E
So
I'm
curious
what
employers
are
currently
doing
and
how
we
might
as
a
city,
push
them
to
do
more,
and
I
mentioned
earlier
the
ordinance
piece
with
respect
to
prohibiting
them
from
using
credit
from
barring
people
from
getting
employment
opportunities,
which
is
going
to
be
critically
important,
coming
out
of
covid.
But
on
the
opposite
side,
how
do
we
incentivize
more
employers
to
show
up
to
help
with
this
issue?
E
That's
my
question
and
I
can
save
the
rest
for
some
follow-up
conversations.
Council
mejia,
I
did
have
some
questions
for
the
administration,
which
I
can
also
send
separately,
particularly
on
the
data
piece
and
vanessa.
Thank
you
as
well
for
sharing
a
lot
of
your
personal
story
as
well
and
valerie.
It's
so
great
to
see
you
thank
you
all
and
that's
my
only
question
for
now.
A
This
is
where
the
opportunity
exists
for
us
to
lean
in
and
also
employers,
those
who
are
doing
business
here
in
the
city
of
boston,
just
curious
to
counselor
campbell's
question:
what
are
some
of
the
ways
that
we
can?
Who
are
the
who
are,
if
any,
who
are
the
employers
that
are
doing
right
by
students.
A
G
L
Certainly
adds
to
the
bottom
line
now
have
the
larger
institutions
of
business
leaders
like
the
chamber
of
commerce
or
some
of
the
other
ones
that
have
been
newly
formed
had
conversations
about
this
issue?
I'm
not
sure
I
think
we
are
at
a
point
where
it's
a
great
moment
to
engage
our
leaders
in
the
business
community
as
well
as
our
leaders
in
the
philanthropic
community.
L
At
the
end
of
the
day,
reinvestment
and
public
higher
education
is
going
to
come
through
raising
taxes,
hopefully
releasing
taxes
to
those
who
have
so
much
money,
and
I'm
talking
about
multi-million
nurse
and
the
10
or
20
billionaires.
We
have
in
massachusetts
many
of
who
understand
and
actually
agree
that
their
taxes
should
be
raised.
E
E
The
ivy
leagues
are
not
ever
going
to
have
the
capacity
to
provide
the
educational
opportunities
that
this
country
is
is
going
to
need
in
order
to
create
the
labor
force
that
is
necessary
to
meet
the
demands
of
our
economy
and
that
investment
in
our
community
colleges.
Our
public
institutions
is
so
critically
important
and
I
have
a
lot
of
folks
in
my
district
who
work
at
umass
who
do
a
lot
of
work
with
umass
and
rcc
and
other
bunker
hill.
E
I
Oh
no,
not
at
all.
I
just
wanted
to
add
a
bit
to
what
what
I
know
about
this.
So
I
don't
have
employers
who
are
offering
loan
forgiveness
that
I'm
aware
of,
but
I
have
a
plethora
of
companies
that
will
offer
tuition
reimbursement
and
companies
who
come
to
rcc,
that,
for
lack
of
a
better
descriptor
will
pre-pay
for
their
employees
to
take
classes
with
us.
I
So
two
examples
that
I'll
notice
one
is
sciu
currently
is
offering
their
members
an
opportunity
to
take
classes
towards
a
degree
if
they
want
to
go
into
health
sciences,
and
so
we've
been
working
with
them
to
provide
classes
for
their
membership,
and
there
are
also
companies
that
provide
incentives
for
current
employees
to
take
promotions
based
on
whether
or
not
they
will
enroll
in
classes.
So
I'm
seeing
more
on
the
prevention
of
of
debt
than
I
am
for
the
alleviation
of
debt.
A
K
Thank
you
so
much
councillor
mejia
and
thanks
again
to
everyone
for
being
here.
It's
been
alluded
to
a
few
times,
but
we
have
a
lot
of
universities
in
this
town
of
all
types
right.
Community
colleges,
four-year
universities
at
public,
private
and,
and
I
represent
all
a
large
number
of
them,
there's
a
lot
crowded
in
district
eight,
and
I
guess
I
find
myself
thinking
a
lot
about
something.
K
So
there's
been
a
reference
to
the
obviously
the
way
the
federal
government
has
structured
that
debt
made
it
something
that
you
can't
get
out
from
under,
and
we've
got
a
lot
of
lenders
making
a
lot
on
that
process,
but
also
the
reality
is
that
I
think
someone
alluded
to
the
fact
that
our
universities
have
gotten
deep
into
the
habit
of
building
very
fancy,
gyms,
very
fancy,
dorms,
sort
of
chasing
the
shiny
building
pursuit
and
all
those
buildings
get
you
know.
Debt
financed
our
universities
end
up
very
leveraged.
K
Fundamentally-
and
I
think
our
community
colleges-
and
I'm
so
glad
we
have
rcc
represented-
are
a
great
like
counter
example
of
how
you
run
a
university
with
less
overhead,
less
of
a
proliferation
of
deans,
less
of
an
obsession
perhaps
with
the
physical
plant.
Although
obviously
you
should
also
make
investments
in
the
physical
plant.
K
One
is
to
subsidize
the
expensive
product
for
our
students
who
are
most
in
need,
but
the
other
is
to
recognize
that
the
product
is
just
becoming
totally
unsustainable,
vis-a-vis
what
people
can
expect
to
earn
with
their
degrees
and
that
we
really
need
to
make
it
more
efficient
and
cheaper
in
a
way
that
it
was
not
that
long
ago.
So
I
just
wondered
if
anyone
on
the
panel
has
ideas
for
that,
because
I
think
about
it.
A
F
F
It
was
in
the
1980s
when
the
federal
government
began
to
move
away
from
giving
grants
to
students
to
giving
loans,
and
they
did
this
because
we
were
so
successful.
Higher
education
was
so
successful
that
the
the
lifetime
earnings
of
students
was
considerably
more
if
you
went
to
college
than
if
you
just
had
a
high
school
degree.
So
the
perspective
was
well
if
you're
gonna
benefit
so
much
from
higher
education.
F
You
pay
for
it
student,
not
either
the
state,
local
or
federal
government,
and
that
that's
put
us
on
a
road
to
move
the
burden
to
students
in
and
and
and
claudio
had
mentioned
as
well
when
he
was
talking
when
he
talks
about
you
know
these
these
new
new
athletic
facilities,
it's
an
it,
was
an
arms
race.
It
was
basically
an
arms
race
for
talent
and
the
institutions
with
most
of
the
money
and
the
largest
endowments
bought
up.
F
The
talent
and
the
other
institutions
tried
to
keep
up
with
them,
and
that
created
a
structural
model
that
we
are
seeing
now
is
was
was
not
sustainable
for
students
of
color
and
is
closely
to
the
point
where
it's
not
going
to
be
sustainable
for
a
lot
of
other
institutions.
One
thing
we
do
have
we
have
authority
over
both
private
and
public
institutions
in
the
commonwealth
and
we're
looking
at
the
financial
impact
on
those
institutions
of
kobat
19,
and
there
are
a
lot
of
institutions
that
are
struggling.
F
F
Those
are
huge
numbers,
that's
our
future
labor
force
and
basically
especially
latinx
and
african-american
students,
don't
want
to
bring
covert
19
to
their
communities
that
have
already
been
ravaged,
and
they.
The
last
thing
they're
thinking
about
is
going
to
school,
they've
lost
their
part-time
and
full-time
jobs
and
they're
dealing
with
the
health
effects
in
their
communities,
and
they
are
stepping
away
my
big
concern.
What
keeps
me
up
as
night
at
night
is
that
those
students
will
never
return,
never
go
back
to
college,
and
I
think
that's
going
to
be
a
travesty.
A
K
All
right,
thank
you
so
much
counselor,
I'm
good
and
again
I
really
appreciate
you
having
this
hearing
and
everybody
being
here
and
anything.
I
think
I
think
the
point
about
pilot
and
how
we
address
you
know
community
benefits
those
directions
well
taken
and
I
think
in
general,
whatever
we
can
do
to
encourage
our
universities
to
structure
themselves
to
be
more
affordable
to
people
is
really
important.
So
thank
you,
madam
chair.
A
C
A
H
H
I
believe
that
the
migration
overnight
to
remote
teaching
and
learning,
and
because
of
our
demography
because
of
the
students
we
serve,
we
very
early
on
made
a
judgment
to
migrate
the
bulk
of
our
of
our
teaching
and
learning
to
remote,
and
this
proved
to
be
a
very,
very
wise
decision.
I
have
to
say
I
was
a
dean
back
in
the
west
coast
at
that
time.
So
this
I
had
nothing
to
do
with
that
judgment,
but
it
was
a
very,
very
smart
judgment.
H
H
How
do
we
teach
that,
which
is
truth,
logic
and
science,
that
which
is
good
justice,
that
which
is
beautiful
aesthetics,
and
we
don't
need
the
fancy
gems
and
the
fancy
this,
and
that
we
need
to
reprioritize
higher
education
for
the
communities
we
are
responsible
to
serve.
I
completely
agree
with
the
councilwoman
when
she
said
the
princetons
of
the
world
will
never
have
the
bandwidth
to
move
the
needle
the
ways
our
country
needs
to
have
the
needle
moved
when
it
comes
to
higher
education
and
justice.
A
Thank
you
for
that.
Thank
you.
I
really
do
appreciate
your
thoughts
around
that,
and
I
also
would
just
like
to
advocate
on
behalf
of
a
lot
of
the
students
who
are
living
in
bha,
which
is
the
boston
housing
authority,
a
lot
of
those
developments
that
are
right
in
the
umass
campus
like
if
we're
really
serious
about
riding
the
wrong.
A
C
R
C
A
Absolutely
I'm
going
to
move
on.
We
have
several
other
public
testimony
folks
who
are
in
line
waiting,
and
I
also
would
like
to
echo
my
gratitude
to
the
panelists
who
participated
in
helping
to
inform
the
conversation,
our
panelists,
who
joined
whether
you
were
living
the
realities
or
doing
the
work
or
experiencing
these
issues
yourself.
N
N
First,
I
want
to
quickly
thank
president
janie
and
councillor
mejia
for
your
leadership
on
this
issue
and
sharing
your
platform
with
us
for
this
important
conversation
and
to
all
of
our
panelists
and,
most
importantly,
our
student
loan
borrowers,
who
have
bravely
and
generously
shared
their
personal
experiences
with
us
tonight,
I'm
going
to
be
reading
two
short
written
testimonials.
We
receive
from
zdm
activists
in
the
interest
of
time,
because
we
receive
many
more
than
that
who
are
student
loan
borrowers
that
couldn't
make
it
tonight
to
this
hearing.
N
So
the
first
one
is
from
adrian
young
quote:
I'm
a
current
master's
student
at
boston
university
and
have
taken
out
loans
to
fund
both
my
undergraduate
and
graduate
degrees
during
school
semesters.
I've
worked
nearly
full
time
and
worked
more
than
40
hours
a
week
each
summer
to
attempt
to
decrease
the
amount
of
money
I
need
to
borrow,
and
yet
I
will
graduate
with
an
msw
in
may
and
about
seventy
thousand
dollars
in
debt.
The
debt
weighs
on
me
constantly
and
creates
an
enormous
amount
of
anxiety
around
the
income.
I
will
have
after
my
degree.
N
I
believe
many
of
my
peers
are
in
similar
situations
and
this
enormous
burden
should
be
a
focus
for
legislators,
as
my
generation
deals
with
a
disproportionate
impact
on
our
ability
to
contribute
to
society
unquote.
So
thank
you
to
adrian
and
the
second
testimony
I'll
be
reading
is
from
jordan.
Ahmed
quote.
My
name
is
jordan,
ahmed,
a
graduate
student
at
boston,
university,
studying
social
work
and
public
health,
I'm
a
queer
south
asian
muslim
and
I'm
the
first
in
my
family
to
attend
college,
let
alone
graduate
school.
N
N
In
many
ways
I
am
one
of
the
lucky
ones.
I
was
fortunate
to
receive
some
scholarships
for
both
my
undergraduate
and
graduate
school
career.
However,
despite
receiving
significant
scholarships,
I
am
more
than
555
000
in
debt
since
graduating
from
ohio
wesleyan
in
2013.
I
have
worked
as
many
as
three
jobs
at
a
time
as
a
special
education
teacher.
A
professional
dancer,
a
depressed,
a
depression
prevention,
counselor
for
elders
in
boston
and
a
research
assistant.
N
However,
despite
working
upwards
of
50
hours
a
week
and
now
attending
graduate
school,
I've
had
to
defer
my
student
loans
indefinitely.
I
have
never
earned
enough
income
to
pay
any
amount
of
my
student
loans
since
graduating
this
year,
due
in
part
to
the
coven
19
pandemic.
My
university
was
not
able
to
provide
me
with
financial
support,
which
has
pushed
me
to
either
cut
back
on
my
education
and
stall.
My
career
plans,
career
plans
and
helping
careers
with
modest
salaries
or
take
additional
student
loan
debt
already
burned.
N
N
A
S
S
S
They
were
designed
to
be
predatory
and
they
put
people
like
me
in
the
positions
that
I'm
in
because
they
are
profiting
off
of
it.
When
I
graduated,
they
were
expecting
me
to
pay
something
like
600
per
month,
and
that
was
just
from
my
sallie
mae
payments.
Mind
you.
I
also
had
you
know:
payments
from
the
feds
to
make
and
with
the
feds,
where
I
was
able
to
get
into
an
income
driven
repayment
plan
and
pursue
my
options.
S
One
of
these
was
a
week
outside
of
my
payment
window,
and
so
you
know
once
that
report
went
through
a
month
later
boom.
Everything
is,
you
know,
defaulted.
Everything
is
bad
150
points
off
my
credit
score.
My
credit
score
was
nothing
to
write
home
about
to
begin
with.
I
didn't
have
a
credit
card
until
I
was
23..
S
I
would
have
never
had
a
credit
card
because
there
just
wasn't
a
culture
of
learning
these
things
in
my
family
of
about
credit,
credit
management,
how
to
build
your
credit,
and
so
now
I'm
learning
these
things
at
25,
like
I
said,
I'm
incredibly
lucky
to
have
my
partner
teaching
me
these
things
coaching
me,
but
there
are
lots
of
people
who
don't
know
their
options
to
push
back
against
the
sallie
mae
operator.
Who
is
telling
you
multiple
times
per
day
multiple
times
a
week?
S
This
is
your
fault
and
you
saying
no,
it's
not
and
just
continuing
to
push
back
and
push
back.
You
know
I
ultimately
did
get
my
personal
issue
resolved,
but
it's
enigmatic
of
the
system
that
we
are
unfortunately
all
oppressed
by
and
why
we
need
stronger
protections
in
massachusetts.
Why
we
need
a
student
loan
bill
of
rights?
Why
we
need
to
do
research
because
we
all
believe
in
science,
and
if
you
don't
study
the
problem,
then
you
can't
find
find
a
cure.
So
I'm
incredibly
happy
that
this
hearing
is
happening.
S
A
Thank
you,
jerome
really
great
to
have
you
here.
I'm
gonna
move
on
you're,
giving
me
some
flashbacks
about
sallie
mae
because
I
used
to
be
like
do
not
answer
please
because
they
would
call
all
the
time
at
all
hours
but
anyways.
Thank
you.
So
much
you're
bringing
me
back
to
that
space.
I'm
gonna
ask
eddie
fisher.
A
A
R
You
for
the
space-
and
I
just
wrote
a
little
statement-
hello.
My
name
is
isabelle
depena.
I
am
a
returning
oldest
full-time
student
at
umass
boston.
I
am
a
senior
and
I'm
going
with
my
mba
in
labor
studies
and
conflict
resolution.
I
am
a
student
organizer
for
fba
for
phenom.
I
am
a
parent
of
two
children.
My
son
is
linnell,
he's
20
years
old
and
he
first
shared
college
students
and
my
daughter's
rosalina
is
13
in
the
8th
grade.
R
I
have
60
000
of
student
loan
debt
and
can
only
go
to
umass
boston
because
of
a
scholarship
I
received
because
of
my
experience
with
student
loan
debt.
I
am
worried
for
my
children
to
go
on
higher
ed
and
to
have
debt
like
I
have
in
additional
to
being
a
student
and
a
parent.
I'm
a
worker
that
experienced
the
unfunded
system
that
we
live
in
firsthand.
R
It
seemed
that,
no
matter
how
hard
I
work
to
support
my
children
for
a
better
life,
the
system
is
not
always
on
outside
for
our
black
and
brown
students
and
families.
The
cost
of
college
has
shifted
from
the
state
to
students
and
families,
which
is
why
we
have
student
loan
debt.
Since
my
son,
nanel
is
in
first
year
college
student.
R
R
His
financial
aid
does
doesn't
cover
those
costs
and
he
has
to
pay
for
them
out
of
pocket
as
a
parent.
I
see
this
problem
under
the
effect
of
me.
This
is
affecting
my
son,
who
is
is
in
college
and
my
daughter
who
hopes
to
go
to
college.
We
need
to
create
a
boston
student
debt
report,
so
they
can
figure
out
who
in
boston,
is
more
affected
by
student
loan
debt
and
create
policy
and
support
the
most
effective.
We
need
justice
in
our
how
I
mean
higher
ed
everyone.
A
Thank
you
isabel.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
heartfelt
and
honest
testimony.
This
is
the
reality
that
we're
all
facing,
and
it's
important
for
us
to
create
space
for
people
to
be
heard
and,
more
importantly,
it's
what
we
do
with
what
we
hear
and
how
we're
going
to
move
the
fork
forward.
So
thank
you
for
that.
I
am
wondering
if
eddie
fisher,
if
you're
still
with
us,
I
see
you
on
the
gallery,
but
I'm
not
sure
if
you
are
still
with
us.
A
A
A
I
don't
think
it
would
be
fair
and
you
probably
won't
come
back
if
we
do
so
I'd
like
to
give
an
opportunity,
I
believe
that's
all
that
we
have
for
public
testimony
this
evening.
I'd
like
to
thank
members
of
the
public
and
to
the
panelists
for
this
testimony
and
before
we
close
this
hearing
just
wanted
to
know.
If
anyone
had
any
closing
remarks
that
they'd
like
to
share
I'm
going
to
go
to
the
gallery
view,
if
you
could
just
utilize
your
blue
hand,
if
anyone,
oh,
I
see,
okay,.
C
Right,
counselor
jamie.
Thank
you
so
much.
Madam
chair.
I
wanted
to
thank
you
again
for
your
partnership
on
this
hearing
order
and
for
your
leadership
chairing
this
hearing.
I
wanted
to
thank
zero
debt
massachusetts.
I
want
to
thank
all
of
the
panelists
I
want
us
to
as
a
next
step.
I
hope
that
we
can
gather,
gets
get
those
data
set
questions
together
and
submit
those
and
have
more
conversation
with
the
administration
here
in
boston
to
move
this
forward.
C
So
I
just
wanted
to
thank
everyone
for
your,
your
your
advocacy,
your
leadership
and
your
work
on
this
on
a
day-to-day
and
let's
continue
so
that
we
can
get
this
study.
You
know
my
biggest
fear
is
that
I
can.
I
think
we
can
all
predict
what
a
study
by
zip
code
and
by
neighborhood
and
by
race
and
ethnicity,
is
going
to
tell
us,
and
so
what
I
hope
we
build
into.
That
is
what
are
we
going
to
do
about
the
results
when
we
see
the
results
so
anyway?
Thank
you
again.
Thank
you,
madam
chair.
A
So
much
counselor
janie.
I
echo
those
same
points.
I
think
that
for
me
we
already
know
what
we
know
I
mean
I
think
the
study
is
just
going
to
affirm
what
we
already
know
and
I
appreciate
the
the
process
of
which
we
have
to
go
through
to
just
get
work
done,
but
just
trust
that
as
a
council
and
I'll
speak
for
myself
as
the
chair
of
workforce
development.
A
Thank
you
so
much
I
it's
it's
a
great
to
see
the
president
of
roxbury
community
college
here
in
the
space
like
this
is
what
it
looks
like
when
everybody
comes
to
the
table,
the
chancellor
from
umass
boston,
commissioner,
santiago,
just
claudia,
excuse
me
vanessa,
snow,
kate.
This
is
what
it
looks
like
when
we
all
come
to
the
table
to
have
one
conversation
and
so
really
looking
forward
to
what
happens
next.
I
am
going
to
in
the
interest
of
making
sure
that
we
end
in
the
way
that
we
should.