Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Against Student Debt (NLASD)

Student debt drives rising need for credit counselling in N.L.

2007-01-11T04:18:00.000-03:30

Last Updated: Friday, December 29, 2006 | 11:04 AM NT

CBC News

The need for credit counselling is rising in Newfoundland and Labrador, with much of the increase stemming from student debt, says an organization that provides the service.

'In the past, you wouldn't see a 25-year-old with $40,000 worth of debt.'— Rick Fifield

The non-profit Credit Counselling Service of Newfoundland and Labrador opened an office in Grand Falls-Windsor in the fall and plans to open another on the Burin Peninsula. The organization already has offices in St. John's and Corner Brook.

CCS spokesman Rick Fifield said his organization is not only seeing more people in need of its services — its clientele is increasingly young.

"In the past, you wouldn't see a 25-year-old with $40,000 worth of debt, but it's not a bit unusual now," Fifield said.

"The vast majority of it is associated with their education."

No surprise to student group

Jessica Magalios, who represents the province in the Canadian Federation of Students, said she isn't surprised by the increased debt loads.

Newfoundland and Labrador has some of the highest student debts in the country, she said, attributing it in part to the province's geography.

"We have a large rural population and a lot of students have to spend a lot of money coming in from places outside of St. John's or Corner Brook to go to school," she said.

Magalios has called on the government to take a number of steps to bring student debt under control, including regulating tuition fees and giving out more student grants based on need.

Two Months...and not a word!!!

2007-01-11T03:51:00.000-03:30

Well it has been two months since I have met with Mr. Peter Noel ( Principal Assistant to the Premier. Premier Williams told Linda Swain on VOCM's nightline that he would meet with me and accept my letter etc... When I got to his office, I met with his assistant as I was informed that the Premier was out of the office (despite the very polite secretary answering the phone and putting the person on the line to the Premier's phone while I was sitting in the lovely leather chairs in the office while admiring the very expensive artwork).

Since we have been two months without a response, it is time to kick things into gear again. Yesterday a supporter of our cause (MHA Judy Foote) mentioned in an article on www.vocm.com that 300 people have left the community of Burgeo since CHRISTMAS!! Surely this sort of out-migration must alarm the Premier and his caucus...

And lastly...wouldn't all of you borrowers like to know if the MHAs that have mismanaged their constituency allowances have to pay back their money WITH interest? I mean...I pay $8.40 every day in interest on money I APPLIED for and BORROWED in order to get an education and contribute to the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador...surely politicians who wrongly spend taxpayers dollars should not only have to pay back the money...but what about the INTEREST??

/rant

Letter to Premier Complete

2006-11-10T00:33:00.000-03:30

The following is the letter to the Premier. It will (hopefully) be delivered tomorrow, Nov. 10, 2006. This is a crucial step in our goal, and I urge you all to contact your MHA to let them know about our cause.:
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Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Against Student Debt (NLASD)

Request for the elimination of interest on NL student loans

Letter to Premier Williams, and the appropriate ministers.

Prepared and presented by: Travis George Parsons

To:

Premier Williams and the appropriate ministers

Subject: Eliminating interest on Newfoundland and Labrador student loans.

November 10, 2006

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Against Student Debt (NLASD) wishes to inform the government of Newfoundland and Labrador about our campaign to eliminate the interest on Newfoundland and Labrador student loans.

A short while ago we began an online campaign, and a petition to government (that will be submitted six months before the next election) outlining why we believe the interest on student loans should be eliminated. Within twenty-four hours of the initial campaign, our leader Travis Parsons was interviewed on VOCM’s Night Line, and the Premier, in the following interview, promised to hear our position and pass it along to the appropriate ministers. We wish to thank the Premier for offering his interest in this issue, and we have prepared the following request.

We request that the government of Newfoundland and Labrador do everything within its power to eliminate the interest students have to pay on their Newfoundland and Labrador student loans. We strongly feel that the elimination of such interest would be a vital first step in stemming the out-migration of our young educated individuals, and that the economic and social benefits received from students who choose to live here interest free would far outweigh the benefits from the interest the government receives.

Throughout the weeks prior to this letter, we have offered the many individuals touched by this issue to voice their concerns, and the response was overwhelming. Some key points people made were that they had no choice but to move out of the province to find work, and many also stated that they had begun their families and were contributing the economy of Alberta, Ontario, and British Columbia etc…

Some personal examples of how the interest on loans makes it extremely difficult for people to stay in this province would be my own situation. I graduated from Memorial University, and have luckily found work in my hometown of Grand Bank until December 8, 2006. I want nothing more than to stay in my home province and contribute to my community and the local economy, but the student loan situation is almost too much to handle. A $40,000 student loan will become approximately $90,000 by the time interest is added to it. Now I respectfully ask you, what is worth more to this province? Keeping our young and educated people, and allowing them to pay taxes, buy a home, start a family, and spend their earnings in their own province, or to allow these people to move away in order to pay off their interest laden loans and not be that force that drives the economy?

It is evident by simply looking at the population pyramid of Newfoundland and Labrador that our province as a whole is becoming much more older while a huge amount of young people move away. We feel that this is a disaster waiting to happen as within the next twenty years, the population will be very much unbalanced. The large majority of the people touched with student debt are those between the ages of 18 and 35, and there is no question that this age group is both the future of our province, as well as the group that is leaving in larger numbers than ever. We need to stop this now before the problem becomes worse.

Student debt is a very serious issue in our province, and although we have low tuition compared to most other areas of Canada, we also have lower wages, less job opportunities, and sadly, less people each and every year. We are not asking for a free ride in having our loans paid back, as we are more than willing to pay on our principle for as much as needed. However, we strongly disagree with having to pay interest on our education. Paying interest may enable the government to gain more money, but this comes at the expense of the most important part of our province, our future.

We ask the government to make this issue a top priority. It is very important as it impacts finance, education, rural development, industry, and more. The future of our province and the out-migration that is seeing our future leave in huge numbers is perhaps the most important issue facing our province. If we can stop the exodus of our citizens, we can start to build our province into a financial success. The government may subsidize Memorial University by approx. 80%, but how good of a return on investment is it when the people the province is helping put through school have to leave in large part due to interest and allow other parts of the country to benefit from their skills and taxes? It is obvious that this issue is an important one, and the solutions may not be easy. Perhaps creating incentives where graduates who remain in the province remain interest free would be a starting point.

To conclude, we ask you again to please take this initiative seriously as we feel strongly that the elimination of interest on these loans will only benefit the province as a whole. We are committed in fighting for the cause of the thousands affected, because we are committed in fighting for the cause of the province we love so much. Please make this issue a key one in the upcoming weeks.

Thank you very much for your time, and please review the attached sheets to gain a greater perspective of the support we have from those with loans, as well as the Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League.

Travis Parsons, BA

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Against Student Debt

http://nlstudentdebt.blogspot.com

Selected Experiences Relating to NL Student Loan Interest

Having to pay $478.32 monthly for the next 9 YEARS is unacceptable. As a 24 year old young women, it's hard to even think that I might be able to start living somewhat of a life as student loans have me in a choke hold position. Eliminating the interest charges would be a very big help. My goal is to get out of Western Canada and return to good old Newfoundland. Maybe this will help! - Alicia Roul

I graduated from MUN Nursing in 2003 and moved to Nunavut in 2004. I've paid off all my student debt but only because I packed up and left Newfoundland! Had I been able to make some headway with the payments or qualified for loan remission, I might have stuck around! – Amy Harty

I am currently employed in St. John's NL permanently with luck. At least half of my classmates have moved to pay off student loans. We all know that with the simple elimination of interest, loan payments terms could go from 11 years down to a mere 5 -7 even with the same payment. The province would definitely benefit from more educated people staying in Newfoundland to pay taxes. They would probably make more money that way anyways. On a final note, I make $10 less an hour then some classmates on the mainland, yet I clear more money and have a less stressful and peaceful life here in Newfoundland. - Myles Russell

The government is making an investment by providing student loans to those in need. The return on the investment should be based purely on the success and increased earning potential of the graduates (Taxes anyone?). The return should not be based on monetary interest from the loan itself. If you think about it, those two ways are really quite contradictory. Why is the government investing in allowing Canadian to get a better education and more money (again..taxes) if they're just going to take it back with interest payments? How about having that interest money spent on buying more products which would eventually lead to more money in the pockets of both the government and its citizens? – Jon Llewellyn

I understand where you are coming from, my student loan was for around 19,000 and I have to pay back over 40,000. – Stephanie Greene

Interest is causing professional people to continue to live like students for years after they finish school. It is unbelievable that it would cost my husband and I about $12 in interest every day we went to work. How can we get ahead? $800 + a month for student loans in our household is crippling. It puts house plans on hold and forced us to move from our province in order to find jobs paying high enough to accommodate it. Why should we be penalized for wanting a good education? Eliminate the interest...give us a chance to get ahead...and more importantly, give us a chance to stay in our home province! – Jennifer

Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League (NLDL)

NLDL is dedicated to the planning, development and promotion of initiatives for the empowerment of the Newfoundland and Labrador people.

www.nldl.org

To:

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Subject: Dispensing with Interest Charges on Student Loans.

November 3, 2006

The Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League (NLDL) wishes to inform the government of Newfoundland and Labrador that it fully supports initiatives to lessen the burden of student debt currently being experienced by our youth.

It is clear that the debt incurred by the students of this province in combination with the interest charged on that debt has a crippling effect on graduates at a time when they are preparing for their futures. This reality has resulted in many of our best and brightest relocating outside the province in an effort to increase their earning capacity and meet their student loan obligations.

The membership of the NLDL believes that the removal of interest charges from student loans will serve to entice more graduates to remain inside the province and help ensure that the cycle of out-migration is curtailed.

When older workers who are forced to leave the province often return, our youth rarely do. We must do everything possible to ensure that our educated youth are given every opportunity to utilize their knowledge and skills right here at home, for their benefit and for ours.

Respectfully yours,

The Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League (NLDL)

Leadership Team:

Stephen Penney, Myles Higgins, Greg Byrne, Darren Fancey, Paul Smith and John Feltham

nldl_nl@yahoo.ca

The NLDL is a non-profit advocacy organization made up of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians from across Canada and around the world. The NLDL is dedicated to the planning, development and promotion of initiatives for the empowerment of the Newfoundland and Labrador people. The NLDL is not affiliated with, or funded by, any political party.

Update

2006-10-30T20:18:00.000-03:30

Well, I have been pretty busy in this last week. Between work, photography for the Fog Devils, and working on this issue, I haven't had much time for anything. Tomorrow there will most likely be an interview with me in the Southern Gazette newspaper (Burin Peninsula). I am also working on my report for Premier Williams, and hope to meet him on November 10th when I am in St. John's. So once again, if you have any stories or points you want included in my letter to him, please email it to me. Also, the signatures have been going well. I am going to contact the MUSE at MUN later this week and hopefully get the Univiersity students rallying around this idea and get the students who don't know about us yet informed and signing to petition.

Cheers,

Travis

Night Line & Premier's Offer

2006-10-25T01:19:00.000-02:30

Well tonight I was called by Night Line, and I had the pleasure of talking to Linda. During this time I briefly explained to all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians what it is we are all about, and what NEEDS to be done to fix this mess. When Linda found out just how much of a monthly payment I had to make, she was stunned. Imagine what she would say if I had done the math before they called me and I mentioned how despite having a principle of approx. $44,000....I would have to pay back approx. $90,000. That is $46,000 that I could use to spend in THIS province and raise my family in THIS province. Either way, after I was done Premier Williams called in, and said he had not heard my conversation. Linda quickly filled him in and he said he would encourage me to send him a letter about our purpose, and list off the key points we want to make. This is where you guys come in. Please take your time in giving me your detailed stories about how the interest on your student loan impacts you. Either leave comments to this post, or email me (the link is on the left), and I'll include them all in my final letter to Mr. Williams, that I plan on delivering in person. We are rapidly making some progress people, let's keep it going.

Cheers

- Travis

VOCM Question of the Day

2006-10-24T09:49:00.000-02:30

Well, this didn't take long. In less than 12 hours from the start of this website, VOCM has created its question of the day. I will also be on Night Line tonight to basically give the public some insight on this issue.

It must be a hot and important topic if it has caught fire this fast.....let's make the public listen to us and do the right thing!

Petition Government

2006-10-23T21:32:00.000-02:30

Today is the beginning of Premier Williams' final year in office. This means that we are one year away from an election, and as such we have a great opportunity to make things happen, and fix this mess once and for all. Please take your time and sign this petition. It will be delivered to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador six months before the election.

Determination WILL make a difference.

NOTE: After you sign the petition, you'll see something about donations to the company that hosts the online petition. Please ignore this as the post has already gone through. Thanks

Stop the Insanity!

2006-10-23T21:01:00.000-02:30

This blog serves as an outlet for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are in debt with student loans. We aren't asking for a free ride from the Government in paying back our loans, but what we are asking for is to have the interest eliminated. What is worth more to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador? Stopping out-migration of educated young people? Or the money the government receives in interest off of our Newfoundland and Labrador student loans? We firmly believe that by keeping our educated young people in this province by getting rid of the interest on student loans, the government and the province as a whole will benefit. More families who stay in OUR province to contribute to OUR economy will be of a greater benefit than the interest gained from our people living, working, and contributing to another province's economy.