Education, Jobs and Income Student debt cancellation would help working families, improve equity, and expand access to higher education Last week, President Biden stated he is considering cancelling some amount of student debt and expects to make a decision on the issue in the coming weeks.1 […] Arthur Phillips Posted May 10, 2022 Tags Education, Employment, Housing, Incomes, Inequality, Jobs, Racial Equity, Seniors, Student Debt
Education, Jobs and Income MECEP applauds Governor Mills, legislative leaders’ passage of bill to empower students by expanding access to transcripts and diplomas AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) applauds Governor Mills and legislative leaders for passing LD 1838, which will substantially reform the harmful practice of transcript […] Posted April 5, 2022 Tags Employment, Jobs, Student Debt
Education MECEP statement on passage of bill to empower students AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) applauds the Maine Senate for voting today to reform the harmful practice of transcript withholding. “College education is […] Posted March 9, 2022 Tags Education, Student Debt
Education The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is broken — let’s fix it Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program in 2007 to provide public service workers with student debt relief in exchange for a decade of service […] MECEP Posted September 1, 2021 Tags Education, Federal, Higher Education, Student Debt
Education Protections for private student loan borrowers protect seniors and people with disabilities In 2019, Maine led the nation by passing the Student Loan Bill of Rights (SLBOR) to address the predatory loan servicing practices that are exacerbating Maine’s student […] MECEP Posted May 18, 2021 Tags Consumer Protection, Education, Higher Education, Student Debt
Education COVID compounds Maine’s education debt crisis. The time to act is now. MECEP economic policy analyst James Myall contributed to this blog post. There was a student loan crisis before the pandemic, now it is even worse. Despite gains in recent […] Jody Harris Posted April 9, 2021 Tags Coronavirus, Education, Higher Education, Student Debt
Education One easy way for Maine to increase grants for college students with low incomes this year Thanks to federal forbearance on student loan payments during the pandemic, Maine has an opportunity to make college more affordable this year for students with low incomes by […] Jody Harris Posted March 17, 2021 Tags Education, Federal, Higher Education, Student Debt
Education A Third Of Maine Student Loan Borrowers Could Have Their Debt Eliminated Under Plan Floated By Biden Jody Harris, the associate director of the left-leaning Maine Center for Economic Policy, said that cancelling debt could be particularly important for borrowers facing financial distress, who may be at […] Maine Public Posted January 20, 2021 Tags Federal, Higher Education, Student Debt
Maine’s Economy Facing income crunch from coronavirus, debt-burdened Americans need relief now As tens of thousands of Mainers face lays offs and unemployment, two things will happen: With no earnings coming in, they will default on their loans and […] Jody Harris Posted April 7, 2020 Tags Consumer Protection, Coronavirus, Student Debt
Education Student debt collection reform, for-profit college rules top wins for Maine consumers this year While President Donald Trump’s administration continues its efforts to systemically roll back consumer protections, Maine has made moves to protect residents and ward off financial predators. Maine’s […] Jody Harris Posted July 17, 2019 Tags Consumer Protection, Education, Higher Education, Student Debt