BY CURTIS SKINNER
Students were set to walk out of classrooms
across the United States on Thursday to protest ballooning student loan debt
for higher education and rally for tuition-free public colleges and a minimum
wage hike for campus workers.
The demonstrations are planned just two days
after thousands of fast-food workers took to the streets in a nationwide day of
action pushing for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights for the
industry.
Events for Thursday's protests, dubbed the
Million Student March, have been planned at colleges and universities from Los
Angeles to New York. Thousands of people signed up to attend on Facebook
groups, though it remained to be seen how many would ultimately participate.
"Education should be free. The United
States is the richest country in the world, yet students have to take on
crippling debt in order to get a college education," the movement's
organizers said in a statement on their website.
Organizers are demanding tuition-free public
colleges, a cancellation of all student debt and a $15-an-hour minimum wage for
campus workers.
The total volume of outstanding U.S. student
loan debt has more than doubled to $1.2 trillion, according to the U.S.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, compared with less than $600 billion in
2006.
The bureau said there are some 8 million private
and federal loan borrowers in default, representing more than $110 billion,
while millions more are finding it difficult to keep up with repayments.
Saddled with debt that can sometimes run into
the hundreds of thousands of dollars, many college graduates have struggled to
make payments amid an ailing economy and job market.
Dealing with swiftly mounting student loan debt
has been a focus of candidates vying for the White House in 2016.
Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders has vowed to
make tuition free at public universities and colleges, and has pledged to cut
interest rates for student loans.
His rival Hillary Clinton has said she would
increase access to tuition grants, let graduates refinance loans at lower
interest rates, and streamline income-based repayment plans.
Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is the most
prominent Republican candidate to lay out a concrete proposal, saying he would
establish an income-based repayment system for federal student loans, and would
simplify the application process for federal aid.
"This is clearly an urgent crisis, but
establishment politicians from both parties are failing to take action,"
their statement said.
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