Student loan defaults are surging, and Illinois is feeling the impact.
Nearly 9.5 million federal student loan borrowers are now in default nationwide, including nearly 20% of borrowers in Illinois. As Protect Borrowers’ Aissa Canchola Bañez shared, “Folks are struggling to make ends meet and cover all the rising costs of everything else. The growing student loan bills are making things worse and folks are falling behind.”
For human service professionals, these pressures are especially significant. When wages are not keeping pace with the cost of living, student loan payments make it harder for workers to achieve financial stability and harder to stay in the human services field. That’s why we are advocating for living wages and full funding for the Human Services Professional Loan Repayment Program.
We want to hear from you. How do wages and student debt affect your well-being and ability to stay in human services? Share your experience to help strengthen our advocacy for living wages and full funding for the Human Services Professional Loan Repayment Program. You can give us permission to share your story using only your first name, or connect with us directly to explore opportunities to share your story with legislators. Your voice and experiences will help advocate for living wages and full funding of the Human Services Professional Loan Repayment Program.
Visit livingwageil.org to learn more about the campaign and share your story.
Contact Adela Carlin (adela@illinoispartners.org) if you are interested in sharing your story directly with legislators.
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