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I recently had an excellent exchange with Aurora Meneghello of Krotala Films behind Default: the Student Loan Documentary. A documentary covering student loans has been missing for a while, and I think this film will help shed some light on a very dark situation for many young people. If you've been wondering about this area, check out their site and join the movement - they are doing a great job by helping young people understand this important situation.
1. What caused you to produce a documentary on student loans? Do you think this issue is receiving enough attention?
We started working on this documentary 4 years ago when there was not much written in the press on the issue of student loans. I have student loans and at the time I was trying to learn more about my private student loans. It was starting to dawn on me that my school had provided very good information on federal loans, but not on private loans.
One day I saw an article about student debt on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle and in it I read about StudentLoanJustice.org. When I read some of the stories posted on Alan Collinge’s site, I felt it was outrageous that I had never heard of this before (I am a bit of a news junkie). As I found more and more information, I talked to Serge (Serge Bakalian, co-writer and producer of Default: the Student Loan Documentary) who suggested making a film about the issue. A lot of our friends were graduating with student loan debt and they were completely unaware of their lack of rights. They also felt embarrassed and scared and wouldn’t talk about it, feeling ashamed about their debt. I remember calling a credit counseling service and asking whether they offered counseling to student loan borrowers. The person on the phone wondered why I was asking, since, she said, student loans are actually “good for you!”
So our intention from the start was to educate people on student loans: how they work, what happens when you cannot pay them back, etc. And to open a dialogue about debt, so that future students could find an alternative source of information, apart from their school’s financial aid office. We also wanted to break the taboo that one doesn’t talk about debt. This is a problem affecting millions of people directly and our entire economy indirectly. It’s not just a personal issue of financial literacy or responsibility, it is a systemic problem.
2. How can people get involved with your movement to inform others and seek solutions to this problem?
We have a very active Facebook page and Twitter feed where we post relevant content every day. And our website has a list of sites that can be helpful in learning about student loans and to get involved.
It’s important for people to act individually and in groups. You can get a better grip on your finances and share your story to help other students avoid debt. You can also pay attention as to what legislation is being considered in Congress, sign petitions, become more vocal in your community. Find a group of like-minded people, organize screenings, protests and talks. Different website and groups offer different approaches: choose what works best for you.
3. If a young person was considering college, how would you advise them?
First of all, I would ask them whether they need a degree to practice in their chosen career. I am a photographer and although I learned a lot in school, nobody ever asks me whether I have a degree. It’s all about the work I do. You will find this is the case in many professions. If that’s the case for your chosen career, avoid getting into debt: either find alternative ways to learn (see Anya Kamenetzs’s book DIYU) or choose a college that is less prestigious, is affordable and still gives you the education you need.
If you are looking into professions that require a degree, if you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, then I would advise trying to get that degree incurring the least amount of debt possible. Again, watch out for quick but expensive degrees (especially at for profit colleges), or for very prestigious but very expensive schools. Check out how much you can expect to make in your first year, paying close attention to the average in your area and to the lowest possible salary in your field as well. Basically, stay away from overly optimistic estimates such as $160,000 out of law school. Also, find out what is required of you after you graduate. For example, if you want to be a Marriage and Family therapist in California, you have to put in 3,000 hours of supervised work, which are often unpaid. Are you ready for that commitment? Research and plan for the worst, while doing your best to succeed. Graduating with unmanageable debt might prevent you from taking the chances you need at the beginning of your career.
Being realistic doesn’t mean giving up your dreams. If you stare reality in the face, you will be better able to find ways to achieve your goals.
Let me also say that I think education is important in and of itself and it is very troubling to me that we think of universities only as monetary investment in a future career. So, no matter what you decide to do, read, learn, explore! Grow as a person by educating yourself. Nowadays we have more access to information than ever before. Don’t let the high price of college deter you. Why isn’t education free or low cost? I think this is another topic, but one where we all need to be actively engaged.
4. Final question: based on your interviews with college students and graduates, do you think the unquestioned zeitgeist of "attend college no matter the cost" is changing?
It’s always hard to generalize, but in the past four years, I have seen the topic of student loan debt explode in the press, thanks to the tireless work of activist and borrowers willing to speak up. The students who contacted us to screen our film and whom I have talked to are concerned and want to do something about the rising cost of tuition and the lack of consumer protections for their student loans. So I think at the college level things are definitely changing.
Unfortunately though, there is still enormous pressure on children and teenagers to go to college at any cost. Having a college degree is definitely an advantage, but might not be so if one graduates with insurmountable debt. So I would like to see more of this type of debate at the high school level. Finally, I personally feel no matter what job you have, you should be able to make a living wage. We need to think of ourselves as part of a community. Not everyone can be a lawyer or a CEO. Some will always need to serve a latte or to sell us a pair of jeans. Anya Kamenetz shows in our documentary how the advantage of having a college degree is such only because the income of those not having a college degree has actually deteriorated. We cannot make an expensive degree the only way to make a decent living. I think we need to look at the bigger economic picture and question why we pay some people so little for the work they do that they can barely survive.
But that is another story ...
