Lower our loans
Student-led organization looks to help students facing Canada Student Loans problems
SHARA LEE THE PEAK (SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY)
VANCOUVER (CUP)— Two students at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia have launched a campaign to change Canada’s student loan systems. But while the feds say they’re listening, no actual changes seem to be on the horizon.
After graduating from SFU in 2006, Julian Benedict was shocked to discover just how much in student loans he was faced with paying back.
“I had huge student loans to deal with. I started to make payments and I couldn’t believe all the problems I was having with lost documentation, misinformation and generally things that were wrong with the system,” said Benedict.
Rather than complaining about his problem, Benedict and his friend Mark O’Meara started the Coalition for Student Loan Fairness (CSLF) to address the needs and concerns of other student loan borrowers.
The organization has already started collecting names in an online petition seeking support for eight points that the CSLF wants to present in Ottawa. The eight-point plan is a list of major issues that the CSLF has compiled and includes the creation of a student loan ombudsperson, a reduction of interest rates on loans, and a demand for online up-to-date statements to allow students to stay informed about their loan status.
They have also started working on an education campaign to make people more aware of their campaign.
“Federally, there are over 990,000 student loan borrowers,” said Benedict, “Considering that the average debt according to the Canadian Federation of Students is about $27,000, Canadian students owe the government a lot of money.”
“We’re paying among the highest interest rates in the G8 for student loans at a time when governments across the developed world are saying that they want to make it easier and more accessible for students to get into education systems,” he added.
The CSLF believes that there are two fundamental stages of a student’s financial life.
“The first one is when you’re in school and dealing with issues like tuition fees. The second stage is in repayment, when you’re paying back your student loans,” said Benedict.
The CSLF’s membership is composed of both students and graduates but is also getting some external support.
“[By] form[ing] alliances with other groups like credit counseling societies and other groups who would not necessarily be aligned with students, our organization is open to any reasonable means to get the voices of student loan borrowers heard,” said Benedict.
Benedict is looking at paying back about $40,000, but his case is far from the worst.
Peter Watt, another former student, said that his debt amounts to approximately $110,000.
“I’ve gone bankrupt twice to try putting it off. That didn’t work, obviously, because you can’t do that — all it really does is put it off. The creditors are sill bugging me, but that’s calming down now,” said Watt.
The government collection agencies “are pretty relentless if you can’t pay and the interest is higher than on other loans so it’s kind of frightening, actually. Other than a potential settlement, I really have no hope of paying it back,” he added.
Officials with Canada Student Loans know of problems like Watt’s, and acknowledge that something needs to be done to help them.
Leesha Lin, acting director of operational policy and research for the Canada Student Loans Program, stated in a recent Macleans.ca article that although a review of the student loan program has been launched, it still hasn’t happened, and neither is there a timeline for any recommendations and action plans.
As for people like Watt, they are exactly the kind of people that the CSLF hopes to help.
“I’m really encouraging everyone to come to our website and find out the facts about the student loan system and help us make it better,” said Benedict. The CSLF believes that with enough support, their eight-point plan and petition can make a difference in the way that Canada’s student loan borrowing system operates.
