The messages of frustration and dissatisfaction from the Occupy Wall Street protests have targeted unemployment, economic inequity, and healthcare costs. But as the protests have spread to other U.S. cities, as well as cities in countries around the world, debt from student loans has became a larger and louder focus of the protests.
The unemployment rate has been stuck at 9 percent since the recession “officially ended” more than two years ago, and although the economy has caused other lines of credit to tighten, America’s student loan debt soared, exceeding the country’s credit card debt for the first time ever last year. As the recession continued, kids were told that going to school — and taking out massive loans to pay for college — was a smart investment since they could use the time during a poor economy to prepare themselves for a brighter future.
But, years later, the economy is still in the tank. And with few jobs for graduates — the unemployment rate for college graduates under 25 is more than twice the rate of college graduates over 25 — loan defaults are at an all-time high. Roughly 320,000 borrowers who entered repayment in 2009 defaulted on their student loans by the end of 2010, and increase of 33 percent from the previous year, according to the Institute for College Access & Success.
Student Loan Borrowers Drawn to Protests in New York
John Smith, 31, a college graduate from Brooklyn, N.Y. who protested in Manhattan’s Zucotti Park, said he works part time at Trader Joes because, despite having a master’s degree, he hasn’t been able to find a job in his field for over a year. Smith has about $45,000 in student loan debt. Smith said his girlfriend, Meropi Peponides, a 27-year-old graduate student at Columbia University, will have about $50,000 in student loan debt when she graduates.
Smith said he felt he was being reasonable with his job search. He said he has sent out about 200 résumés seeking entry-level positions with non-profit organizations in his field. “I don’t think I’m shooting for the stars trying to get those jobs,” Smith said. He noted that he was able to find employment at that level five years ago before entering graduate school.
Smith carried a sign proclaiming “I am the 99 percent.” He said the slogan was true. “I am one of the many people that are having a lot of trouble finding ways to make it through things right now” (“Occupy Wall Street: Complaints Include Rising Student Loan Debt, Insurance Costs,” The Huffington Post, Oct. 14, 2011).
Other college graduates protesting in Zucotti Park included Tracy Blevins, a 41-year-old biomedical science PhD who lost her job as an adjunct professor and is trying to get by on odd jobs while paying the remaining $10,000 balance on her student loans, and Joe Foley, a 48-year-old freelance photographer who just finished repaying his student loans five years ago. Foley’s girlfriend has $120,000 in student loans.
For Peponides, the Occupy Wall Street protests were about the possibility of change. “I don’t know in the end what exactly this will achieve, if anything,” she said. “But if it makes people wake up just a little bit, it’s worth it. The potential is huge. That’s why I’m here. I felt the potential somehow.”