Looking for Guidance on Group Initiatives to Forgive Student Loan Debt

General
#1

Hello everyone,

I’m reaching out to the Debt Collective community because I’m looking for advice and insights on collective action for student loan debt forgiveness. Like many, I have been struggling with student loan debt for years, and while I’m aware that there have been some efforts in advocating for forgiveness, the process has been long and frustrating. I’m hoping to tap into the experiences of others who have been navigating this system and learn from the collective strategies that have been most effective.

In particular, I’m interested in hearing from those who have participated in debt strikes or have been involved with the Debt Collective’s direct action campaigns. What has worked for you, and what challenges should we be prepared for when organizing a group? I’m especially curious about the following:

Building solidarity: How do you rally people who are in similar situations but may not be aware of the power of collective action? How do you build momentum when many people are feeling burnt out or hopeless about the future of student loan forgiveness?

Legal considerations: Have there been any legal obstacles to organizing actions like debt strikes, or is there any advice on navigating potential risks?

Public support: How can we bring attention to our cause in a way that garners wider public support? How do we keep the movement growing without burning out?

I appreciate any advice, resources, or experiences you can share. It’s clear that debt forgiveness will require ongoing pressure, and I’m hoping to be part of a movement that can bring real change.

I also checked this: https://community.debtcollective.org/t/any-older-student-loan-borrowers/qlik

Thanks in advance!

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#2

Well, for a start I suggest you begin by a simple (but amazingly important) change of terms. Instead of “forgiveness,” use a term like “cancellation.” Forgiveness carries the strong implication that by working for a degree, you have committed some sin, which the divine presence known as the financial industry, and its government shills, we must beg to for forgiveness.

Second, remember that students do not buy their degrees with loans from the financial corporations, such as they would in purchasing a house or a car. Unlike these tangibles, students don’t and can’t sell back their degrees. In addition, when a student obtains a degree, or even part of a degree, they are adding to national assets in many ways, necessary to our cultural survival and advance.

It is also vital to remember that students earn degrees through hard work – and for doing work one usually gets paid. Name me another area where the one doing the work, instead of getting paid for their efforts, must pay someone else (like the financial industry) for the privilege.

That student work is considered a commodity bought by students and their parents through loans, and not an achievement that is earned, is one of the great self-serving fabrications of our time, serving the interests of a predatory industry that enriches and engorges itself off the efforts of others. Use of the term “forgiveness” only reinforces this manufactured attitude.

So it’s vital to recognize the limitations we unconsciously accept before the conversation even begins. The belief behind the attitude (e.g., college students are all rich doctors or lawyers who just don’t want to pay their debts) is somehow, despite vast reams of evidence to the contrary, still widely believed, at least in the halls of power. That is the primary factor that keeps student (and medical) debt cancellation off the table. Work on that issue, and you are ninety percent there.

Greg Summers

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#3

You also need to remember that even with student loan forgiveness/cancelation you will still be trading (in most circumstances) student loan debt for a tax bomb where you will pay interest and penalties for not paying your taxes on time. Except for VA disability loan forgiveness (all other disabled people will still have to pay taxes) and the public service and teach forgiveness programs you will get a 1099-C which means the amount written off is taxable as ordinary income. The pause on this will end the end of 2025. A federal law needs passed as only federal laws affect what the IRS does - not the department of education.

So as you are planning actions, you need to keep in mind the unfortunately consequences of getting a 1099-C. I will have my student loans forgiven for disability in Nov 2026. I will owe about $31,000 in federal taxes and about $4500 in state taxes. I will owe far more than I earn in a year. That is due to the IRS April 15th in 2027.

So it isn’t just an issue for forgiveness/cancelation. It is also a tax bomb/crisis for most people. That needs addressed too.

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#4

Heh. That was my first thought, too. Also “release” as in “release the hounds of …” Sorry. That should be “debt release.”

We MIGHT consider “forgiving” the government and it’s puppet masters later.

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#5

Regarding the tax bomb, you might - like me - live in a state (CT) that does not consider the release of our student debt as income. May it be so, for you. Otherwise, you will need help navigating your state income taxes ass well.

I am not sure why “Anon” owes federal income tax on the released loan. I was given to understand that the feds did not tax released student loan debt.

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#6

The pandemic law put a pause on getting a 1099-C for written off student loans through the end of 2025. Starting Jan 1, 2026 it will, once again, be taxable income as “ordinary income” and unless you are in one of the few programs that have by law an exemption (the teach program, public service employment) the rest of us will get a 1099-C that we will need to file with federal taxes as income and in most, but not all of the states, as state income as well.

For this not to happen 1/1/26 there needs to be a federal law permanently pausing that. The IRS does not have to follow what the Dept of Ed says or the courts say. They are only required to follow what the law says. THAT is why I keep bringing up this tax bomb issue that is going to start haunting people again in 2026 if we don’t include that in our attempts to get student debt forgiven.

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