To: Ms.

Maria Vint
From: Samia Sara
Subject: Student Debt Crisis Solution
Date: December 3, 2019

The purpose of this memo is to inform readers of the crisis on student loans and to propose an
effective solution. The founding of an organization that will advocate for college students’
financial stability is the first step to fixing this national problem.

Summary
A tremendous amount of student debt is agonizing students and the economy in the State of New
York. With the high cost of living and the high cost of tuition, the struggle is one way to put
what college students are going through. Looking at the sky-high national student debt number, it
can be concluded, a great deal of this demographic is having difficulties paying tuition for
education without taking out a loan. Most of the students in the survey I conducted to test how
students felt about the current college finance system agreed that tuition is too high and they fear
not being able to find a job if they do not receive a degree. Since this is a complicated situation,
the system should be rebuilt to avoid future mistakes like such. Students are currently struggling
to thrive in this economy and the loans from college are making sure that these individuals do
not receive a chance to improve their standard of living. The federal government has done very
little in the past to work on this nationwide issue, but now; questions about being sprung upon
the new democratic presidential candidates on how they believe this problem should be tackled.
More needs to be done by lawmakers and people with the power to overcome such crises. The
Federal government should have more funds for student’s tuition. This can be achieved within
years if an organization were to form to advocate for more affordable college tuition. This will
create a space for students to be heard and for the country to not suffer from a loan crisis for
college tuition.

Introduction
The $1.6 trillion of student debt exceeds any other form of loans such as credit card and car
loans. It has been normalized to correlate higher education to a private facility that costs students
thousands every year. Students as young as seventeen years old are compelled to take loans
before they even decide what they want to major in. Furthermore, last year’s federal report
indicates, approximately $638 million in subsidized, unsubsidized, and other federal student
loans were disbursed to SUNY undergraduate students. From these statistics alone, many can
argue that this is a national crisis that needs the attention of the federal government. In New York
State, the cost of tuition and living has only been increasing yearly causing many students to take
out loans for basic survival. To go more-in-depth, majority of the students in New York State
(58%), graduate college with loans. A survey I conducted to determine how students felt about
the current college financial system concluded that 62.3% of students from the age of 18 to older
than 22 had to pay anywhere from $1-$10,000 per year for college tuition alone. This survey
consisted of a small subsection of the population of New York State. While that is, 26% of the
surveyees received nothing from government funding. The federal government should invest
more in finding ways to support college students more.

Proposed Solution
Since this is a national issue, no doubt we need the attention of all the states and not just New
York. Although that is, the first liable step to take would be to form an organization in New York
since most of my research is based on this State. This can start just within a few people who are
passionate about this crisis. We can then form a club in the City College of New York. This club
will politicize to demolish the current student debt and give students more opportunities to
pursue higher education without suffering financially. One of the programs that could help
students not graduate with crippling loans in the future could involve the federal government
giving students more financial aid because the current amount isn’t enough. Giving students
more from financial aid will eliminate their need to take out large amount of loans.

The members of this club can then volunteer their time to meet with local organizations that are
fighting injustices every day. With the resources and networks of those organizations, we can
advertise our cause to individuals who are possibly being hurt by the current college financial
system. Moreover, we can get a vivid idea of how already existing organizations hold rallies,
protests, and mobilize citizens to act for a cause. Following, our organization will have more
volunteers stationed sound the State in local towns to spread more knowledge on this crisis.
From this, we would have the opportunity to persuade individuals to sign a petition or to call the
State Senators. For a bill to become law there are many steps and is usually a difficult task to
follow through on because it needs so much authority's approval. To add on, it will take years of
lobbying and years of dedicated work to convince the federal government to act on this issue.

Budget
In this economy, price for basic living standards are extremely high in New York State. Even
social work and volunteering work could cost millions if the organization becomes franchised
throughout the country. Before looking into that, we would need to find a place to hold meetings
for the organization. Since this could start in college as just a club, we can bring our group to a
facility in the near future. We can rent out a small space for our office in Queens, New York for
$1,800 a month based on searches from websites such as Zillow and Naked Apartment which
showcases places on rent. Tapping more into the finances of this operation for just one facility, a
few members of the board should work full-time on a salary. We need at least three to four
people to constantly engaging with individuals to get them to volunteer. These workers should
also be the ones to hold meetings, rallies, protest, layout plans for the organization, etc. Each of
these individuals should be given about $48,000 yearly. With these employers, the facility will
have someone to always recruit volunteers for a cause.

The organization would also need an accountant to handle the finances. This individual should
be given $55,000 yearly. To get citizens to turn out and possibly even travel to a different state to
vocalize the issue, additional money would need to be spent. Rallies and protests would cost the
organization about $1000 with an addition of $5000 for travel expenses yearly.
Moving onto the advertisement aspect, $3,000-$5,000 yearly can be expected to be spent on
flyers, booklets, newspaper announcements, and a few social media features. Moreover, office
supplies and miscellaneous expenses could add up to $1,000 per year. Adding all the numbers,
one facility of this organization would need about $100,000 to operate in New York State. If the
organization does well, it could branch out into multiple facilities throughout New York and
perhaps travel to different States across the country to receive federal attention. If all goes well,
this organization will create more jobs and be an advocate for American college students.

Appendixes
Schedule for the future of this organization
Task Jan-Mar 2020 April-Jun 2020 Jul-Sep 2020 Oct-Dec 2020

Create a club in
City College of
New York

Fundraise
enough money
to rent an office

Have full-time
workers

Hold meetings
with volunteers
and other
organizations

Hold rallies and

protests

Have 10,000
signatures for
the cause

Hold a meeting
with different
district Senates

The above table clearly indicates how long it should take to form the organizations to us reaching
our first goal. As previously mentioned, this is a national crisis but this organization will focus
on New York State first. It will be founded here and will have the opportunity to branch out to
different States over time. We should get in touch with someone of authority in this manner by
the end of 2020 if we follow the plan.
 Reference List

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Slowly. ​New York Times.​ Retrieved from​ h​ ttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/27/your
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Carrns, A. (2019). As College Debt Rises, So Does Interest in Teaching Financial Literacy. ​New
York Times. ​Retrieved from ​https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/your-money/student
-loan-debt-financial-literacy.html​.
Lieber, R. (2018). The Public Student Loan Forgiveness Rescue Hasn't Gone Well So Far. ​New
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-service-loan-forgiveness.html
Miller, B., Campbell, C., Cohen, B. J., & Hancock, C. (2019). Addressing the $1.5 Trillion in
Federal Student Loan Debt. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/
education-postsecondary/reports/2019/06/12/470893/addressing-1-5-trillion-federal-stude
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Nova, A. (2019). Where the 2020 Democratic candidates stand on student debt. ​CNBC.
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-proposing-to-do-about-student-debt.html​.