Students, Allies Organize to Fight Student Debt Crisis, Vet 2016 Candidates

Caption: UNH Peace & Justice League members Jon Brown and Amanda Chisholm talk with adjunct professor and Representative Jackie Cilley, D-Barrington, after yesterday’s event.

UNH’s campus in Durham was humming with activity Thursday afternoon, despite the chilly weather. Contributing to this excitement was an event put on jointly by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and UNH’s Peace and Justice League to call on 2016 presidential candidates to support a national goal of debt-free college at public institutions of higher education. Amongst signs saying “Debt-Free College Now,” Rep. Jackie Cilley (D-Barrington), a veteran adjunct professor in the business department, talked with student activists about the need to adequately fund higher education and leave newly matriculated students unburdened by tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Cilley pointed out that the high cost of higher education doesn’t just promise decades of unwieldy debt in the future; it also takes a toll on students’ ability to excel during their years on campus.

“Over the years I have witnessed increasing numbers of my students who must work to help pay their tuition, to purchase their books or to pay their room and board,” Cilley said. “The increased hours that students are now working, and still coming out of our university system with the highest level of debt in the country, are resulting in a less attentive student, one who is more fatigued, and a student who has difficulty completing assignments or spending adequate time with the material of a course.”

Peace and Justice League member Griffin Sinclair-Wingate gave the student’s perspective.

“UNH is the lowest state funded system in the country and now the state wants to cut even more from higher education,” Sinclair-Wingate said, adding. “This is unacceptable especially when the federal government is earning $40 billion dollars annually from student loans and the staggering amount of debt students are facing is slowing economic growth and expanding the gap between rich and poor.”

Unfortunately, the situation in New Hampshire shows no signs of getting better

The proposed University System of New Hampshire budget is severely underfunded and will likely result in a tuition increase for students. UNH is already one of the most expensive public universities in the country with the average student graduating $30,000 in debt. The USNH is the lowest funded public university system in the country, with approximately 5% of the state budget going toward the system.

This event will be followed up by next week’s Drop the Debt: Student Debt Rally on Thursday, April 30 at 1:30pm in Murkland Courtyard.

At the Thursday event, The Peace and Justice League looks to spread awareness on the cost of higher education. After a teach-in at the Memorial Union Building at 12:30pm, students will march to Murkland Courtyard to hear personal stories about the crippling effect of student debt. These actions will be used to get the word out and spur students to contact their legislators, asking them to support restoring the USNH budget.