Good news on the college affordability front: A program called the California College Corps is helping more than 3,000 students serve their communities while earning around $22 an hour in part-time jobs.

The program started in Sept. 2022, and participants logged more than 1 million service hours in the first year alone.

Josh Fryday, chief service officer for the State of California, explained that students who commit to 450 hours of service per year receive up to $10,000 toward their education.

"And they're doing really meaningful work in the community, everything from tutoring and mentoring to working at food banks to taking climate action, and building skills and social networks and capital social capital along the way," Fryday explained.

The program is now halfway through the second year and is funded at just over $73 million per year through 2026. It is designed to help low-income students avoid racking up huge debt. There is no age limit -- so older, non-traditional students are encouraged to apply. People can get more information through their school or at CACollegeCorps.com.

Fryday calls the program is a "win-win-win," because it benefits more than just the students and the community.

"It's a win for the entire state," Fryday continued. "We're preparing an entire new generation of Californians to be inspired to go into public service, but also have the tools to deal with tackling some of our biggest challenges."

California was the first state to launch a college corps. Several Midwest states banded together to offer a similar option. And last week, the governor of New York announced the creation of the Empire State Service Corps.


get more stories like this via email

Alabama's universities and community colleges will receive increased funding for 2025.

The state's universities are set to get a 7% boost equivalent to about $100 million.

Jim Purcell, executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, said during a quarterly meeting he expressed satisfaction with the outcome in the state Legislature. He stressed it came close to achieving its funding target.

"We had made budget recommendations relatively close but as you know, some people have better politics than others," Purcell acknowledged. "It's not exact science."

The commission also saw budget increases bolstering the state's student assistance program and allocated additional funds to aid in FAFSA completion for prospective college students.

Despite increased funding for schools, Purcell stated Alabama is lagging behind in terms of state aid for higher education. In 2023, Alabama allocated the smallest percentage of its education funding for financial aid compared to most states, except for Hawaii and Montana.

"State aid in this state is problematic and we've been working hard to increase it," Purcell asserted. "Gov. Ivey has increased need-based aid, tripled it since she's been in office."

The national average for need-based aid allocation is about 10%.


get more stories like this via email

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have different views on most issues, and student loan debt is no different. In the Reno-Sparks area, one nonprofit, the Black Community Collective, is in favor of what Biden's been doing to ease the burden of student loans.

Edward Coleman, executive director of The Black Community Collective, applauds the multiple student-loan relief initiatives that Biden has introduced, most recently announcing nearly $8 billion in forgiveness for undergraduate student-loan borrowers.

Coleman said his own student debt was cut by three-fourths because of Biden's actions.

"Just prior to that, my thought was, 'Well, I'll be paying this back forever.' And now it's like, 'Well, this will be paid off, you know, in a few years and then what am I going to do?'" he explained.

Coleman added the assistance will mean he can be more financially free. New data show that about 18% of adults say student loan debt will have a major influence over their vote in the upcoming election.

Opponents of Biden's forgiveness plans say borrowers should pay back their own debts, especially when other working Americans have done so without government assistance.

Coleman said marginalized communities typically have the smallest amount of resources and are more heavily impacted by what he calls "non-progressive policies," such as Trump's approach. The Legal Defense Fund found that the Black-to-white disparity in student loan debt more than tripled just four years after graduation, making it harder for Black students to accumulate wealth. To Coleman, that isn't fair.

"And then, to be saddled with an unreasonable amount of debt for trying to better yourself so that you can improve your community's life, it feels like a punishment," he said.

Trump has called Biden's forgiveness plans "vile" and suggested that if he returns to the White House, those plans could be reversed.

Despite the Supreme Court's move last summer to kill Biden's mass student-loan forgiveness plan, Coleman said Biden's administration has provided unprecedented relief to borrowers.


get more stories like this via email

Policy analysts are concerned the Department of Education is not reaching and engaging with low-income and disadvantaged student loan borrowers in the most effective ways.

Tia Caldwell, higher education policy analyst for the progressive think tank New America and one of the authors of a new report, highlighted more than 40% of low-income borrowers are unaware of income-driven repayment plans.

She said it is concerning because debt collection on defaulted loans will resume in September. While the Biden administration has helped struggling borrowers through its Saving on a Valuable Education plan, Caldwell emphasized some still do not know about its benefits. In Nevada, more than 36,000 federal student loan borrowers have enrolled but Caldwell argued the department should consider new outreach methods.

"The Department of Education is just missing a whole chunk of people and so we really heard from a variety of outreach experts that you need to reach people through multiple mediums," Caldwell explained. "We would love to see more texting and creative ideas like push notifications, things like that; reaching borrowers where they actually are, on their phones."

Caldwell stressed unless the department and its contractors' outreach improves, borrowers from marginalized backgrounds will be at a high risk of default when debt collections resume. She recognizes while the department and its contractors have made improvements, they can continue to make strides but it will take more funding and prioritization from Congress.

Caldwell pointed out the report lays out a number of recommendations to help improve communication, which should first come from the Department of Education, but it also touches on the role other government agencies could play as "trusted messengers" when they come into contact with student loan borrowers.

"We'd love to see, like, an 'all of government' approach so that if a vulnerable borrower or low-income person reaches the government in any way, they'll be screened for a variety of different needs and be directed to a variety of different benefits they need: SNAP, student-loan assistance, all of that through any door," Caldwell outlined. "That is, like, a pie-in-the-sky thing, it is far away."

Caldwell added there is also a significant need for what she called user testing, meaning the Department of Education understands what it is like to be a borrower navigating what at times can be complex systems and subsequently talks with them about what is working and what is not.


get more stories like this via email