Join our Week of Action to demand a payment pause NOW!
+ updates from our housing and healthcare campaigns
“What we have been living for three decades is frontier capitalism, with the frontier constantly shifting location from crisis to crisis, moving on as soon as the law catches up. ”
― Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Imagine that you’re a passenger on a sinking ship. The captain tells you to jump in a lifeboat, but once you do, you realize the lifeboat has holes — and it’s sinking even faster. This is how it feels to be a student debtor right now.
One month ago, loan servicers started sending notices to millions of student debtors on SAVE telling them to switch repayment plans. But when we surveyed SAVE debtors, they told us that switching plans left many of them worse off than before. Of the 1,670 student debtors on SAVE we surveyed, 50% reported that switching plans would cost them an average payment increase of more than $500 per month. In an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, nearly 2 in 5 Americans don’t have $400 in the bank for emergencies. How are student debtors supposed to pay $500 more every month?
More than 130,000 student debtors have called on the White House to pause payments and interest and provide immediate relief to millions of debtors. We don’t need another bill, we need relief — from impossible monthly bills, ballooning balances, and a repayment system in constant flux. We need a payment pause NOW.
This August 10-14, join Debt Collective and Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) for a Week of Action to demand a payment pause. We’ll start with a virtual day of action targeting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other NY Members of Congress. We’ll also train debtors to share their stories by writing op-eds and speaking with the press. Finally, we’ll host a National Call to update everyone on the status of our member-led litigation in the Havens case and break down what these latest developments could mean for SAVE debtors.
RSVP to 8/10 New York Day of Action
RSVP to 8/12 Media & Op-Ed Training
RSVP to 8/13 National Call to Demand a Payment Pause
We need debtors like you to pressure Congress and Trump to pause all federal student loan payments and interest. RSVP to our upcoming Payment Pause Week of Action events, and read on for updates on our campaigns to cancel debt across higher education, healthcare, and housing!
Higher Education
This month, our team met in NYC to dream, strategize, and organize debtors for a payment pause! NY Assemblymember Emily Gallagher and Congressional nominee Claire Valdez joined our NY Debtors Assembly to share their own experiences with debt and hear directly from debtors about the ways they’ve been impacted by the dysfunctional student loan system. We also held a NY Debtors Caucus meeting the following week to discuss campaign updates and plug members into our upcoming NY Day of Action.
We also worked with Debt Collective members being forced off of SAVE plan to submit legal declarations attesting to the ways their families are being impacted by the Department of Education’s failure to reinstate REPAYE once SAVE was struck down, despite no court ruling that REPAYE was illegal. These legal declarations were accepted by the judge and will support the ongoing Havens v. Department of Education case led by Debt Collective members to demand the cancellation they are legally owed and the reinstatement of REPAYE. If this case has a hearing, it will likely take place during our August Week of Action, and its outcome could change the game for student debtors demanding a payment pause.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Havens case, and join our National Call to Demand a Payment Pause on Thursday, August 13 to plug into the campaign. We need you in our fight!
Healthcare
Today marks 61 years of Medicaid, the public health insurance program that ensures more than 70 million Americans receive free or low-cost medical care. Medicaid allows people to get the care they need with dignity even if they don’t make much money, and this program saves countless lives every year.
One year ago this month, the Trump administration mounted the largest attack on the program in U.S. history, using the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” to strip more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) while funneling hundreds of billions of dollars toward deportation and war.
For the last few months, we’ve been organizing in Nebraska, where the Trump-friendly state government started rolling out these healthcare cuts eight months before most other states. The Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services officially starts kicking people off the Medicaid rolls in waves next week — and these same cuts are coming for the rest of us at the end of 2026.
Wherever you live, we need you fighting back with us. Fill out our HealthWatch Interest Form and we’ll loop you in on our work organizing against fascist attacks on lifesaving public infrastructure for universal public healthcare and medical debt abolition.
Housing
Our team has been working behind the scenes to build our campaign to Ban RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing Systems) in Los Angeles. This past month, our organizers brought dozens of tenants associations across the city together to demand an end to these abusive junk fees.
Meanwhile, our Tenant Power Toolkit use continues to grow. Roughly one in five tenants facing eviction in Los Angeles County are now using the Toolkit to file responses to their eviction paperwork. Meanwhile, our presence in the Bay Area continues to expand. Our team now hosts three in-person clinics (in conjunction with tenant organizations and legal service providers) in the East Bay, while we have an exciting expansion plan in the works in the South Bay. Stay tuned for more updates on our campaigns to build tenant power and hold corporate landlords accountable and ways to take action!
Upcoming Events
50 Over 50 Monthly Call
Thursday, July 30 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT
Thursday, August 27 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT
Did you know that folks over sixty are the fastest growing demographic of student debtors? We are not aging OUT of our debts – we are aging into them. If you’re an older student debtor or a future older student debtor, join us to build community, discuss strategy and deepen our organizing work.
College for All Jubilee School: A History of Fighting for Free College
Thursday, July 30 5pm ET / 2pm PT
Join Higher Ed experts Mark Huelsman and Michelle Miller-Adams to discuss a (recent) history of the free college fight and “College Promise” programs in the U.S. We’ll also explore free college models, research, and ongoing policy efforts.
Final Friday Flow
Friday, July 31 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT
Friday, August 28 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT
Held on the last Friday of each month, these gatherings are designed to remind us that the path to debt abolition and collective liberation begins within. Through guided somatic and movement-based practices, we’ll transform exhaustion into power, fear into vision, and pain into purpose.
New Member Call
Wednesday, August 5 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Curious about the Debt Collective and how we’re organizing to abolish debt? Our New Member Call is a space to learn who we are, what we’re fighting for, and how you can plug in. Whether you’re brand new or have been following our work for a while, this call is a chance to get grounded, ask questions, and connect with others who are ready to challenge the debt system together.
Higher Ed Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, August 5 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT
If you’re wondering what’s going on with your student loans or how to get involved with the Debt Collective’s higher education campaigns, come join us at our monthly office hours. We’ll cover updates in student loan policy, what to do if you’re in default or on the SAVE Plan, and how to get involved with our campaigns for debt cancellation.
Payment Pause New York Day of Action
Monday, August 10 10am ET / 7am PT, 12pm ET / 9am PT, and 2pm ET / 11am PT
Between conflicting deadlines, payment increases, and rampant loan servicer errors, it’s never been more clear: we need an immediate pause on all federal student loan payments. Join our New York Day of Action at 10am, 12pm, or 2pm ET to call Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other New York Members of Congress and demand a payment pause.
Payment Pause Media & Op-Ed Training
Wednesday, August 12 7pm ET / 4pm PT
To address ongoing harm and call for debt cancellation, we need a payment pause NOW. How can we share our individual debt experiences to break through the noise and bring media attention to the student debt crisis? Join Debt Collective’s creative media strategist Maddy Clifford and published author Kristin Collier for a media and op-ed training, where we’ll discuss
best practices writing and pitching op-eds for publication and speaking with the press.
National Call to Demand a Payment Pause
Thursday, August 13th 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Debt Collective members, supporters of Student Debt Crisis Center, and student debtors around the country are leading the litigation fight to halt the illegal transfer of debtors off of SAVE and onto other expensive repayment plans no one can afford. Join our joint National Call for a debrief on court developments, and learn how you can join the fight for a pause on all federal student debt payments and interest.
College for All Jubilee School: How to Win
Thursday, August 13th 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT
This final session of the College for All Jubilee School series will look forward to discuss how we can win tuition free public college, dignified labor conditions, academic freedom, and debt cancellation.
