Supporting opportunities to Refinance Student Debt: Miles Brown, Jared Heino & Johanna Sundberg

We are three University of Wisconsin-Madison students soon to be graduating who face entering the workforce with negative worth. Collectively, we hold over $60,000 in student debt and we are currently without the ability to refinance our debt at lower interest rates. According to the UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid, the average undergraduate here will graduate with $26,625 in student loan debt. Ours is the same story as that of thousands of student loan borrowers across the state of Wisconsin.

Because of this anchor on student loan borrowers, the economy is falling drastically short of its potential. Because of the burden of student debt, young adults like us are unable to contribute to the economy. We are not purchasing cars or even considering buying our own houses after graduation.

However, there are ways to alleviate this burden and get our economy moving again. Groups like One Wisconsin Now are working to convince legislators both in Wisconsin and nationally that this issue is important enough to warrant immediate action on its behalf.

This is why students like us are in favor of the Bank On Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and co-sponsored by Sen. Tammy Baldwin,, D-Wis. Under this bill, student loans, both federal and private, could be consolidated and would be financed at an interest rate of 3.86 percent, giving borrowers an easier monthly payment and a lower rate.

Refinancing would alleviate borrowers from high interest rates that could otherwise cause them to put off purchases, fall behind in payments that are too high, or even default. As students we feel not only that this is right, but that it is also a common sense reform to an issue that is weighing down our economy…

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