More than 36 million people with federal student-loan debt have not been required to make a payment for over two years, but it could soon change.

A moratorium on federal student-loan payments went into effect in March 2020 and has been extended three times, with a current expiration date of May 1.

Rome Busa, director of adult programs and services for College Now in Greater Cleveland, pointed out with the average Ohio college graduate facing an average loan debt of roughly $30,000, the benefits of the freeze have been tremendous for borrowers.

"Now the flip side of that is, even though it's been a pause on the burden of repayment, it hasn't completely canceled it or taken it away," Busa cautioned. "So, at some point some action needs to be taken on both the borrower's side and the federal government's side. Right now, everything's at a standstill and there's really no solution being provided."

There are calls for the Biden administration to issue some federal student-loan forgiveness before the pause expires, or to extend the moratorium, since Americans are now fighting inflation as they struggle to recover from pandemic economic losses. Private lenders, who are not covered by the moratorium, claimed it is unfair for borrowers who do not need it, and argued it is driving down demand for their products.

Busa explained there is also talk about changing federal loan interest rates and other policies to make sure calculations are more fair.

He believes what is more important is addressing the high price tag for a college education. The average cost has more than doubled since the start of the century, and now stands at about $35,000 a year.

"If the costs keep rising, then the student debt will also continue to rise, because people need education to grow and to get a career," Busa contended. "That need to educate oneself is never going to go away."

In the meantime, Busa urged borrowers to prepare for payments to resume, and examine options to lower payments. Those include public service loan forgiveness and income-based repayment plans.

"And all of those have kind of different calculations all based off of their income, which helps lower those payments," Busa outlined. "It's possible to have a zero-dollar payment under one of these income-driven plans. And those zero-dollar payments actually count as an eligible payment toward their student loan."

He added College Now and other partners across the country can help student borrowers navigate the loan process.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

Pennsylvanians will rally in Harrisburg on Tuesday urging lawmakers to boost public school funding.

More than 1.7 million students are enrolled in Pennsylvania schools.

Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania, said her group is among those backing Gov. Josh Shapiro's budget proposal.

It would mean more than $500 million for underfunded schools, $75 million for basic education, and $40 million for special education.

She added that every student deserves a well-funded education and warns that cuts could leave some school districts behind.

"Our message is going to be loud and clear that we need the State Legislature to adopt the entire, full budget package that Gov. Shapiro has proposed," said Spicka. "The full package means that there will be a positive step forward for every school district."

Spicka said they're also urging lawmakers to set a timeline to meet constitutional school funding requirements and to reject private school vouchers.

Her group, along with the PA Schools Work coalition, is leading the rally with support from parents and community groups. The state House and Senate must pass the budget by June 30.

While Advocacy Day is about gaining state lawmakers' support for this year's budget, Spicka said the groups also strongly oppose efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

She added that they're very concerned about how possible federal funding cuts would affect Pennsylvania students.

"We acknowledge that federal funding is an essential funding stream for public schools, especially for the schools that have students with the greatest need," said Spicka. "So, any cut in federal funding will have an enormous and negative impact on students who have already been the furthest left behind in Pennsylvania."

She estimated that a few hundred people will attend the Harrisburg rally. They have meetings planned with lawmakers, will hold a news conference and speak with state education staff.

She added that anyone who attends can fill out a postcard to leave at their lawmaker's office.




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By Lane Wendell Fischer for The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service Service for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration

For many rural students, the road to any college - whether it be out-of-state, in-state, or regional - may not feel like a road at all. It may feel like a winding, overgrown path filled with advisors, unfamiliar processes, and support systems that were never built with small towns in mind.

In five states across the country, a team of researchers and educators is preparing to hit the road to help build better higher education pathways for rural students. But they're not just plotting routes on a map, they're planning something deeper: how to show up in small communities with respect, listen without assumptions, and stay long enough to have a real conversation.

Andrew Koricich is the executive director of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges, a research and resource hub focused on highlighting the important role of regional colleges in economic and community development.

Koricich is leading this new approach to build paths to higher education by establishing the Rural Talent Lab. The lab, composed of higher education researchers and educators, will partner with state education agencies to increase student access and enrollment in regional colleges. Here, students can acquire training and skills to find good paying work and support local workforce needs, from welding to nursing to culinary arts.

Over the next four years, his team of researchers and state leaders will hop on a charter bus to visit the rural communities they will be working with. Koricich has one goal in mind for these trips: to listen.

"We've got to stop treating rural communities like pit stops," Koricich said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. "If we're going to do work with rural places - not just on them - that starts with how we show up."

He's also checking for neckties.

"When we go on these community tours, I better not see one person in a suit and tie," Koricich said. "That might feel weird, but it matters. Don't dress like a bum - that's insulting - but don't overdress either. We're just people, sitting around having a conversation."

The goals of the project are to help state education agencies form stronger, longer-lasting partnerships with rural schools and communities, Koricich said.

Once that relationship is established, the Talent Lab will work with their state partners to develop statewide plans built by data-driven research, but most importantly, built by the needs and desires of the rural communities themselves.

What makes this project different isn't just the scope of the work - it's how that work gets done. "This can't be extractive," Koricich said. "We're not coming to take. We're coming to listen, to invest, to stay for breakfast the next morning - and to come back again."

The Way You Show Up Matters

That shift in tone and posture runs through every piece of the project. Instead of arriving with a pre-baked plan, the national team is working to support what rural communities already know: what's needed, what's possible, and what will actually stick.

Each state will take its own approach, guided by local priorities. The national team will offer research and coordination, but not direction. And crucially, they're focused on building trust, not just completing a checklist.

That includes making sure local dollars stay local. The teams will eat at community restaurants, sleep in local hotels, and spend their time in town - not just swoop in for a meeting and head back to the city.

Ty McNamee, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Mississippi and research fellow for the project, says that mindfulness is essential - especially in places where outside help has too often come with a side of condescension.

"Rural communities aren't broken," McNamee said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. "Rural students aren't an 'at-risk population.' That language makes it sound like something's wrong with them - and there's not. They're brilliant. They're capable. They deserve systems that believe in them."

McNamee, who grew up in rural Wyoming, knows what it means when institutions fail to meet rural students where they are. He hopes this work flips the script by not just improving opportunities, but rebuilding trust in the process and trust in higher education.

"We're not showing up to fix people," he says. "We're showing up to learn from them."

That means making space for local ideas and trusting local relationships. And, as Koricich puts it, "getting comfortable being uncomfortable."

After the Tour Bus Leaves

In many ways, the Rural Talent Lab team is built to be temporary. Their role is to help remove the barriers that have, for so long, prevented long-term partnerships between rural communities, regional colleges, and state education leaders.

The project is set to run for four years. Koricich says the goal is to leave something more lasting behind.

"We hope that by the end, the state teams have built durable relationships with the communities they've visited," he said. "They should be able to go back to those folks later and say, 'We tried 43 things, one of them didn't work - let's try again.'"

That kind of long-term relationship-building takes more than strategy. It takes trust. And that trust is built, Koricich says, not just by the content of the work - but by the method.


Lane Wendell Fischer wrote this article for The Daily Yonder.


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As historically Black colleges and universities grapple with declining Black male enrollment, Howard University's "Kings of Campus" initiative is working to reverse the trend through mentorship, exposure and addressing systemic barriers.

Now in its third year, the program targets middle- and high-school students in partnership with school districts to build a pipeline for young Black men to see themselves in higher education. Nationally, Black male enrollment at HBCUs has dropped from 38% in the late 1970s to 26% today, with Howard's Black male population at 19%.

Calvin Hadley, assistant provost for student engagement and academic partnerships, said the issue needs to be addressed swiftly.

"We are really a clarion call for the world because there's a significant concentration here and we are able to feel this a little bit more, but it's really just illuminating what is a national issue, and so I think we've been able to dive deeper into that, we've known about this and have been working on this," Hadley explained.

Howard's model offers a blueprint for Mississippi, where HBCUs such as Jackson State and Alcorn State face similar challenges. With Black men under-represented in higher education nationwide, advocates stress that solutions must extend beyond individual institutions.

The initiative focuses on combating the "belief gap," or the disparity between what Black male students can achieve and what educators often expect of them. Through events such as barbershop talks and a "burning of fears" ceremony, Hadley said the program fosters self-efficacy and community.

"We're dedicated to addressing this issue that didn't originate with us and likely is not going to end with us, but we know that if we can create best practices, if we can better understand what is taking place around the country and create partnerships, collaborations, etcetera," he continued. "We do believe that we could make a significant impact in this."

The decline has broader implications. Research by economist Raj Chetty highlights how Black male educational outcomes disproportionately affect economic mobility and the racial wealth gap. Howard's efforts, including year-round mentorship and campus visits, aim to address these disparities early.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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