This is an open letter to my government representatives including President Biden regarding the Student Loan Crisis again because I’m still pissed off having been jerked around.
U.S. President Joe Biden
U.S. House Congressman Chris Deluzio
U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.
U.S. Senator John Fetterman
Hello,
I’m assuming you didn’t read my previous missive or perhaps didn’t get it, so please allow me to recap.
In 2009, I enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and took out student loans for $31,000 while my mother took out parent plus loans for $20,264.10. Not only did the Art Institute scam me into enrolling, but my mom asked me nicely to take responsibility for both of our loans because they were for my education. So at the tender age of 18, I was already in debt for $51,264.10. I also received $25,394 in grants (including 4 Pell grants) and $3,500 in scholarships. Before interest, the total cost of my education was $80,158.10 and I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 2012.
When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared as an emergency, the autopayments stopped and interest rates dropped to 0. By this time, I’m in my 30’s with a daughter. Trying to be the financially smart citizen, I took advantage of the 0% interest rate and paid off every single loan. I was finally debt free in August 2022, at the age of 31, after having paid a total of $75,981.63 to Sallie Mae, Navient, and Aidvantage over the years—that’s $23,592.11 in interest on top of the principal balance.
In September 2022, I applied for and was awarded $20,000 in student loan debt relief (I was really emotionally invested in this where I published articles including how to check if you received a Pell Grant, how to find out if you’re eligible for student loan forgiveness, wrote scripts for people to use for contacting their loan servicer, and compiled the important dates of what to do by when). Keep in mind that I paid more than that in interest alone, so this “relief” wasn’t money I even borrowed—it was the cost of being allowed to borrow.
Unfortunately, it was too good to be true because the Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2023 made it so Aidvantage reopened my paid off loans with a $20k balance without notice. A few autopayments went through before I noticed, but once I did, I handed back the $20k + the $296.82 interest from those autopayments. That’s when I wrote my first open letter. Not only was I upset because the government gave me money and then took it back, but it cost me an extra $300 in interest to my loan servicer because of it. Had I not bothered with the relief plan at all, my loans would’ve just stayed closed.
At any rate, in December 2023, I was officially debt free again after paying a total of $76,241.87. At this point, the cost of my education, a Bachelor’s degree from the Art Institute, with interest, was a whopping $105,135.87.
So why am I angry again? On May 1, 2024, it was announced that borrowers who attended the Art Institutes from 2004 to 2019 gets their relevant student debt cancelled because the Institutes “falsified data, knowingly misled students, and cheated borrowers into taking on mountains of debt without leading to promising career prospects.”
On those grounds alone, I qualify. However, it would seem I’m getting the short end of the stick because it states that borrowers must have at least one (1) outstanding federal student loan associated with the school that is the subject of the borrower defense application, and borrower defense is what The Department is using to justify this student loan relief that the Supreme Court can’t reverse.
So for me, and those with paid off loans, and those with private loans, and those that paid outright, we are also victims of the Art Institute’s scam. We also deserve to get our money back.
Sincerely,
Tessa Watkins B.Sc. (they/them)
Student Loan Borrower, Art Institute Alumni
If you’re a lawyer looking to fight this battle, please get in touch. If you’re also a victim of either the $20k/$10k take-backsies or the Art Institutes, please get in touch. My email is Tessa@Just1Voice.com. Thank you.
Sources / Continue Down the Rabbit Hole
, “Statement from President Joe Biden on $6.1 Billion in Student Debt Cancellation for 317,000 Borrowers who Attended the Art Institutes” (May 1, 2024) The White House.
, “Biden-Harris Administration Approves $6.1 Billion Group Student Loan Discharge for 317,000 Borrowers Who Attended The Art Institutes” (May 1, 2024) U.S. Department of Education.
“Borrower Defense Loan Discharge” Federal Student Aid, An Office of the U.S. Department of Education.
“Supreme Court Strikes Down Student Loan Forgiveness Program” (July 10, 2023) National Conference of State Legislatures.
