Minnesotans with student loan debt speak out to legislators

When his furnace went out one winter, Marshall Thompson put the bill on a credit card. His hefty student loan payments left his family with little other choice.

The math teacher in Osseo told the state House panel that oversees higher education that a proposal for a $5,000 tax credit on college debt would have meant a lot to his family.

"Maybe we could have saved a little bit and planned for emergencies," Thompson said.

Legislators heard testimony Wednesday from people saddled with college debt as they considered several proposals to ease the burden for many of the 882,000 current or former student borrowers in the state.

State leaders have been looking for ways to tamp down soaring student debt loads, loans that can hobble new college graduates and burden them for decades. Rising student debt has emerged as a major issue in the presidential campaign, with candidates from both parties pledging solutions, everything from new refinancing plans to free college tuition.

The problem is particularly pressing in Minnesota, which has the fifth-highest student loan debt in the country, averaging $31,580.

"With student debt weighing on my mind … I know my options are limited," said Paul Manning of Minnesota Public Interest Research Group.

Another bill authored by Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, expands the state's student loan refinancing pilot program so more people can lower their monthly payments in the same way they can with a home loan. It would set aside another $5 million, aimed at people who have lower credit scores.

"People with lower credit scores are probably the people who need help the most," Hortman said.

Kane Fossell recounted growing up poor with a single mother who could not help pay for college. He said he borrowed $30,000 to go to the University of Minnesota-Morris to be a teacher, but now he questions how he will cover his debt in addition to a wedding, house and living expenses.

People should not be punished for wanting to go to college, he said, but he is increasingly concerned about starting his life in financial shackles.

A proposal by Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, would expand the eligibility of the loan refinancing program to include people facing a financial emergency, such as permanent disability or death of a spouse.

The proposals could get folded into a larger education measure later in the session as part of final budget negotiations.

Thompson, the math teacher, said he and his wife, also a teacher, have stable jobs and own their own homes, yet they are "suffering this constant weight of pressure from our student loan debt. And it's really, really hard at times."