MassHealth, EOHHS, and SOC Agree To Remedy NVRA Compliance Problems
BOSTON, NEW YORK, and WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 17, 2015) – Voting rights advocates and Massachusetts officials announced today that settlements have been reached in a three-year old federal lawsuit regarding the requirement to provide voter registration opportunities to low-income citizens who receive public assistance benefits.
In 2015, the average student borrower is graduating with about $35,000 worth of debt. Paid over the course of 10 or more years, the cost of repayment will include several thousand dollars more to pay off the interest that accumulates on the loan.
The push for “debt-free college” began only last fall. But, politically, this meme has everything: It’s an earnest response to a genuine policy problem, the rise in student debt loads. It captures the dreams and anxieties of millennial voters and their families. And it touches on the wrenching changes underway in a vital American industry — higher ed.
Late last year, a paper from the think tank Demos outlined how more federal support for state universities could allow students, or at least those with modest part-time jobs, to graduate without debt.
Some community-college students don't get support from their families, while others had subpar high-school educations and have to play catch-up right away. In fact, a 2010 study by the public-policy organization Demos found that six out of 10 students entering community colleges have to take remedial courses to compensate for the skills and knowledge they never attained in high school.
