NAGPS Pushes Forward #GradsHaveDebt2 National Message-Congress Day

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS) and its members will stage another GradsHaveDebt2 National Message-Congress Day on Wednesday, October 15, 2014. Graduate and professional students across the U.S. will message, post, and 'tweet' federal lawmakers about their staggering debt burden and the interest rate inequality facing postgraduate students.

The GradsHaveDebt2 National Message-Congress Day will allow graduate and professional students to express concerns, share personal stories, and urge Congressional action on student loan inequality. The campaign urges Members of Congress to:

Reunify the undergraduate and graduate rates to reverse the current inequalities and
Reinstate the in-school interest subsidy for graduate and professional student loans

The GradsHaveDebt2 campaign was launched in 2013, in response to legislation that increased the financial burdens that students pursuing post-baccalaureate degrees face. In the past year, graduate and professional students across the country made over 1,500 phone calls to Congress, urging legislators to act on graduate student loan inequity. The campaign gained the attention of legislators on Capitol Hill; within a week of its launch, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) quoted concerns raised by NAGPS through the GradsHaveDebt2 campaign on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

The average cumulative debt for a Masters student is $57,000, and $75,000 for a Doctoral student. Students pursuing a professional degrees amass an average of $146,000 in student loans, more than four times the average undergraduate student (approx. $29,000). Graduate and professional students often carry the debt from their undergraduate degrees, and those with families face even greater economic burdens. Student debt has far reaching consequences and inhibits strong economic recovery, as students and young professionals are forced to delay decisions such as purchasing a home, new cars or even saving for retirement in order to meet loan repayment terms.  NAGPS has called for Congress to work on a bipartisan solution that does not raise student loan rates for any student.

Further information is available at Facebook.com/GradsHaveDebt2, including personal accounts from students at various universities across the country.

The National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS) is an entirely volunteer, student-run organization representing more than half a million graduate and professional students across more than 90 institutions across the United States. NAGPS advocates at the state, regional and national level to give a voice to all graduate and professional students.

Contact:
Jesse W. Kremenak
Director of Legislative Affairs
[email protected]
(240) 620-3131

SOURCE National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS)