METRO WASHINGTON LABOR COUNCIL AFL-CIO
  • Who We Are
    • Board & Staff
    • Constitution
  • Programs
    • Community Services >
      • Mission
      • Donate Now
      • Programs
      • Funders
      • Archives
    • Political Action >
      • Archive
      • Mission
      • Elected Officials
      • Endorsements
      • DMV Voters Guide
      • 2018
      • 2016
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • Other
      • 2012
      • 2010
      • 2008
      • 2007
      • 2006
    • DC unemployment appeals
  • Affiliates
  • Calendar
  • Evening With Labor
    • Archive >
      • 2021 Evening With Labor
      • 2019 Evening With Labor
      • 2017 Evening With Labor
      • 2018 Evening With Labor
      • 2015 Evening With Labor
      • 2016 Evening With Labor
  • Hiring Hall
  • Sign up

Warren Pushes College Affordability

6/15/2015

 
Picture
Higher education must be affordable for the working class, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, MA) said on Wednesday at a panel discussion hosted by the AFT. “Degrees push us forward, but debt holds us back,” she said, outlining her plans to reform loan financing, scholarship programs, and tame soaring tuition prices. Warren emphasized the need for bipartisanship on the issue, saying that both Democrats’ calls for additional resources and Republicans’ demands for incentives that ensure universities are accountable are crucial to a solution. 

Other panelists included Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor from Wisconsin, Beth Huang from the Student Labor Action Project, and Zakiya Smith from the Lumina Foundation, who provided varying perspectives on the issue of student debt. “Student debt isn’t just a student issue,” said Huang, noting that debt has turned many students into workers who must spend a considerable percentage of their wages paying off loans.  Huang also said she believes that unionizing students, especially student workers, is necessary to ensure that their schools and jobs are meeting their needs. Goldrick-Rab built on that idea by pointing out that college degrees are becoming increasingly necessary to employment, “but at an incredible cost,” pointing out that “we are undoing the virtuous cycle through which education creates opportunity,” because of the overwhelming burden of student debt.
- report/photo by Sivan Rosenthal

Comments are closed.
    Tweets by @DCLabor

​COPYRIGHT METRO WASHINGTON LABOR COUNCIL AFL-CIO 2023
202-974-8150; [email protected]
  • Who We Are
    • Board & Staff
    • Constitution
  • Programs
    • Community Services >
      • Mission
      • Donate Now
      • Programs
      • Funders
      • Archives
    • Political Action >
      • Archive
      • Mission
      • Elected Officials
      • Endorsements
      • DMV Voters Guide
      • 2018
      • 2016
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • Other
      • 2012
      • 2010
      • 2008
      • 2007
      • 2006
    • DC unemployment appeals
  • Affiliates
  • Calendar
  • Evening With Labor
    • Archive >
      • 2021 Evening With Labor
      • 2019 Evening With Labor
      • 2017 Evening With Labor
      • 2018 Evening With Labor
      • 2015 Evening With Labor
      • 2016 Evening With Labor
  • Hiring Hall
  • Sign up