CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some West Virginians fighting student loan debt say they feel they've been given a life sentence - a debt sentence.

The state has the nation's highest rate of graduates with debt, and the second highest rate of loan defaults. Eric Engle of Parkersburg is an office worker who's kept up with payments since graduating from Marshall University. But he said he's still trapped trying to pay off more than $70,000 in loans.

He said one loan for about $10,000 has risen to $13,000, despite his paying at least $120 a month - and sometimes a lot more.

"You know, the fact that I've made almost nine years of faithful on-time payments of at least that amount, and I still owe them $3,000 more than the principal of the loan is incredibly frustrating,” Engle lamented.

According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, budget cuts for higher ed by the state Legislature have pushed public college tuition up by more than 150 percent over two decades. Lawmakers say until this year, they had faced a collapse of state revenue due to falling coal and gas production.

According to the center, the average debt carried by a college graduate in the state has increased by 70 percent since 2005. For people like Engle, that is much more than just a statistic.

Engle said he was always told that borrowing for college was an investment in the American dream. But now he and his fiancee - also a college graduate with a white collar job and student loans - and their two children are struggling to get by.

"For $600 a month to live in an apartment that's not even big enough for us, and one car, when really we definitely need two; we don't want to rent anymore,” he said. “We want to build some equity. We want to have some ownership. And we don't have a prayer right now of getting a mortgage."

Engle said it looks like he's going to be making payments for as long as he can foresee into the future. He described it as a genuine loss of freedom.

More information on financial aid for higher education in West Virginia is available here.


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Labor leaders and various industries recently celebrated the 85th anniversary of a federal law that laid the groundwork for registered apprenticeship programs in the United States, including in Minnesota.

But policy experts say meaningful opportunities are still hard to come by for Black workers.

Apprenticeships are positions where workers can earn while they learn - meaning they can master specific skills while on the job.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has issued a new report that says structural barriers still limit success for Black workers through these programs.

The Center's Senior Analyst for Workforce Policy, Justin Nalley, said it starts with enrollment.

"Black apprentices only make up 9% of registered apprenticeship programs," said Nalley, "but we make up 12% of the workforce."

There are also gaps for Black workers in completing these programs, and the ones that do are often excluded from higher-wage jobs. And Nalley said data collection is an issue, with many programs not including race in their reporting.

Available data for Minnesota show that in 2021, people of color made up nearly 20% of apprentices, but the information wasn't broken down for specific racial groups.

In seeking program equity, Nalley said administrators should weave in support for "wrap around" services and scheduling flexibility - noting these are common barriers for Black workers wanting to advance their career through an apprenticeship.

"Can we make it to the apprenticeship program? - transportation," said Nalley. "Do we have somebody to be able to watch [our] kids? - child care. Are we able to provide lunch for that day? - food services. Are we able to afford the equipment and materials that it takes?"

Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor issued grants aimed at modernizing apprenticeships and boosting representation of workers of color in registered programs.

Currently, roughly 600,000 apprentices are enrolled in programs across the country.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.




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As National Reading Month ends soon, libraries across New York and the nation are dealing with the increasing number of book challenges.

New data from the American Library Association finds demands to censor certain books hit an all time high of 1,200 in 2022. This is nearly double the 729 book challenges in 2021.

Most of the books in question deal with race or gender issues.

Arlene Laverde, president of the New York Library Association, said it can be scary for librarians to be confronted with these calls for censorship. But, she said she finds there's something similar about people bringing book challenges forward.

"One of the things I've noticed across the country is that they haven't even read the book," said Laverde. "They heard from a friend of a friend of a friend that this book is X, Y, and Z. They haven't read the book. Read the book. What is it exactly that is the problem with the book?"

She said people need to talk with librarians first before challenging a book, noting elected officials need to stand behind librarians rather than against them.

Despite the increase in book challenges, most people are opposed to banning books. A 2022 report from the American Library Association finds 71% of voters, across party lines, aren't in favor of banning books.

Also noted in the new data is that more than half of book challenges were aimed at books in school or classroom libraries. Less than half were aimed at books in public libraries directly.

Lisa Kropp, president-elect of the New York Library Association, noted that book challenges are becoming a common occurrence.

"This is something that's becoming an everyday issue almost for libraries to have to deal with," said Kropp, "to keep reminding people that freedom to read is a real thing, and that people have the right to choose their own material that they want to read or view."

More than 2,500 titles were targets of book challenges, which is a 38% increase from 2021.

The American Library Association finds recent challenges are making attempts to censor multiple titles at once. Forty percent of books challenged were in cases pertaining to 100 or more books.

Before 2021, most challenges only wanted to limit access to a single book.

Community leaders in Harlem are calling on local and state elected officials to make significant community investments.

As part of their 2023 Justice Agenda, grassroots group Citizen Action New York wants a series of steps enacted - not only to protect New York City residents, but New Yorkers all over the state.

These include housing and tenant protections, protecting people's freedom to vote and healthcare equity through universal care.

Vanessa Rosser - vice chair of the New York City Regional Chapter of Citizen Action of New York - said despite having numerous options for getting health care, people struggle with the process to qualify for certain plans, like Medicaid or Medicare.

"Those entities exist, but sometimes the process to go through or to facilitate those pathways are not always available," said Rosser, "especially if you don't know who to go to, to get the coverage that you need, or to get the access to those entities."

She added that healthcare inequities that existed prior to the pandemic are part of why these community investments are so necessary.

Concerns have risen across the U.S. as Medicaid's "continuous coverage" program comes to an end. A report from the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation finds 8.2 million people will lose Medicaid eligibility.

Rosser said Harlem residents want to ensure their voices are heard by city and state officials. She noted that it's only one part of New York City facing the challenges that come with gentrification - including rents becoming unaffordable for long-time residents.

While there's a melange of ways to alleviate this, she said she feels rethinking outdated policies is a start.

"Raising the poverty level would probably help some people to some degree," said Rosser, "because we know the poverty level hasn't been looked at or touched since probably the 1930s."

She added that there are some people making $50,000 to $60,000 a year who still can't pay their rent.

The Federal Poverty Level for a one person household is a little over $14,000, which has increased only slightly from when it was first created.

And yet, the average rent for a studio apartment in Harlem is almost $2,500 a month - which over the course of a year, is almost $30,000.




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