Sign The Petition to Support a Debt-Free University of North Carolina (UNC) System

This Petition to Peter Hans, Chairman of the UNC Board of Governors, respectfully requests that he support a Debt-Free University of North Carolina System and is presented by the NC Student Power Union out of Goldsboro, NC.

Education is a right, an investment in our people, and the most important part of our future as a state. Furthermore, we believe UNC should honor the voices of students, faculty, and staff who make it what it is. The Board of Governors, along with our NC General Assembly holds the legal power to create a UNC system that is accessible to all students and guarantees its graduates be debt-free. We at the NC Student Power Union call upon the University of North Carolina Board of Governors:

        -To reduce tuition and increase financial aid incrementally so that, by 2020, the incoming class of all NC public universities will graduate free of student debt;

        -To ensure that the funding for these tuition cuts do not compromise the quality of our public universities, we call for a moratorium on cuts in faculty pay and funding for departments, especially those cut in recent budgets;

         -And to hold forums open to students, faculty, staff, and community members at every Board of Governors meeting so as to include the voices of those who make the university run in decisions about our shared future.

The mission statement of our university system cites section 9 of the North Carolina Constitution, stating one of its primary missions is “ to provide that the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense.” While the language of “free as practicable” leaves room for debate, we as students and residents of North Carolina can be sure that the writers of our state constitution did not envision a UNC that forces young people to take on significant debt to access college. Under current policies, however, we are asking them to do just that.

Students and families across North Carolina are increasingly burdened with debt or lack the resources to attend a university due to high tuition and cost increases in higher education. Nationwide, education debt now represents over $1 trillion dollars, higher than credit card debt. While UNC system graduates on average take less debt than their peers in other states, roughly two-thirds of students still leave school with an average of over $15,000 debt.

Rising costs and debt has also disproportionately impacted women and students of color. A campus progress study stated that 81% of African American students leave with school with debt, compared with 65% of their white peers. The same study cited that of latino students who chose not to attend college, 74% list financial burden as a primary factor in their decision. While debt numbers for women are consistent to men, the persistent wage gap means women often face a higher burden in paying off their student loans.

We are called as young people in North Carolina to ask how this is allowed to happen in a state where the constitution calls for an education free of costs as practicable. The answer lies in whose voices participate in decisions about our financial future. Our UNC  Board of Governors has 32 members, including nearly two dozen businesspeople and political donors. Of these members only one is a student. This student cannot vote or speak without permission of other board members and is not directly elected by the young people they serve.

We call upon the Board of Governors to create an open public forum around rising costs and debt at their meeting on April 11th, 2014, at which time they will hear policy alternatives for a debt-free UNC offered by students, faculty, and policy experts in the field.

The Petition reads as follows:

To:  

Peter Hans, UNC Board of Governors Chair
Tom Ross, UNC System President  

Please join us to support a Debt Free UNC System. Education is a right, an investment in our people, and the most important part of our future as a state. Furthermore, we believe UNC should honor the voices of students, faculty, and staff who make it what it is. The Board of Governors, along with our NC General Assembly holds the legal power to address these concerns. We at the NC Student Power Union call upon the University of North Carolina Board of Governors: 

• To reduce tuition and increase financial aid incrementally so that, by 2020, the incoming class of all NC public universities will graduate free of student debt;
• To ensure that the funding for these tuition cuts do not compromise the quality of our public universities, we call for a moratorium on cuts in faculty pay and funding for departments, especially those cut in recent budgets; 
• And to hold forums open to students, faculty, staff, and community members at every Board of Governors meeting so as to include the voices of those who make the university run in decisions about our shared future.  

We expect the board to call for an open public forum around rising costs and debt at their meeting on April 11th, 2014, at which time they will hear policy alternatives for a debt-free UNC offered by students, faculty, and policy experts in the field. 

Sincerely,  

[Your name]

Thank you in advance for signing this important petition in support of our right to education.

Please use the comment section below to tell your views about education and to let your friends know that you support this petition!

Sign the Petition to Adopt Sen. Warren's Plan To Refi Student Loan Debt

The following is the call to action from Van Jones, President and Founder of Rebuild The Dream, for the U.S. Congress to "End the Student Debt Crisis" by adopting the proposal put forth by Senator Elizabeth Warren to allow students to refinance their student loan debt at today's low interest rates:

Today, Americans hold an all-time record $1.3 trillion in student debt. Senator Elizabeth Warren has a smart plan to end this crisis: Let Americans with federal student loans refinance at today's low rate. When Senator Warren introduces legislation focused on refinancing student loans, I urge you to support the bill.

Why is this important?

Unlike almost every other type of loan, federal student loans are set in stone even if rates change for the better. That might not constitute a crisis if college cost what it did in the seventies. But with middle class wages flat for decades, the soaring cost of education has become a mammoth debt dilemma dragging down an entire generation.

In short, we are taking money from middle class students and handing it to the worst of the one percent. Sen. Warren's plan is to make up for lost revenue from student loan refinancing by making sure millionaires do not pay a lower tax rate than their assistants.

She is not the first to propose refinancing for federal student loans. Nor did she come up with the idea of the "Buffett Rule," a minimum tax on millionaires that The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates would raise $47 billion over 10 years, or an average of just under $5 billion per year. President Obama first proposed the tax in 2011, naming it after the acclaimed Warren Buffett, who notes that many millionaires pay a lower tax rate than their assistants.

Sen. Warren's step forward was combining the two. Suddenly, members of Congress worried about lost revenue no longer have an excuse. And those who oppose fair taxes now have to explain why they care more about hedge fund managers than middle-class families trying to pay for college.

We can save Americans thousands of dollars. Put money back in the pockets of families who invested in education. Create jobs from the middle class out. And do it without adding a dime to the deficit -- simply by putting in place a fair tax code and then allowing people to refinance federal student loans.

If we can refinance a flashy new sports car at today's low rates, we should be able to do the same for our student loans.  

In Solidarity,
Van Jones

Sign the Petition to Adopt Sen. Warren's Plan To Refi Student Loan Debt

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO GO TO THE PETITION PAGE!

Be proud and tell all your friends that you support helping students over more tax breaks for billionaires! Comment in the box below!