Forgiving Student Loan Debt; Millennials Likely To Be Unaffiliated From Religion

Is Forgiving Student Loan Debt A Good Idea? A petition with more than 670,000 signatures has been circulating around the Internet, asking people to sign it in favor of complete student loan debt forgiveness. While supporters argue that this nearly $1 trillion bailout would be good for the economy by aiding those would could “start businesses, buy homes and cars, invent things and make babies,” detractors argue its economic unfeasibility and say it’s not likely to have a quick impact on the economy. A TIME article reaches the crux of the matter: “[The] plan is that a one-time bailout is a temporary fix to an on-going problem. What’s really needed is a long look at how higher education in the U.S. is financed.” [TIME]

Survey: Millennials Likely To Be Unaffiliated From Religion. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, millennials who attend a religious college are just as likely to be unaffiliated from their childhood religion as those who attend a public institution.  The largest religious growth was in the “unaffiliated” category, as it increased from 11 percent in childhood to 25 percent currently, a 14-point increase. The Catholic category saw the greatest loss, from 28 percent in childhood to 20 percent, or a near 8-point decline in Catholic affiliation. [Christian Post]

Santa Monica College Makes Education Harder To Reach. In this op-ed written by Santa Monica College student Chelsea Carmona, she lays out her case against the school’s new plan to raise the cost of 50 of the most popular classes. Carmona offers an alternative plan to eliminate unnecessary prerequisite classes for transfer students, which would free up more class space. She writes: “There is a need for affordable education in America. More attention is devoted every day to the disappearing middle class, yet education—the steppingstone into the middle class—is far from a national priority.” [San Francisco Chronicle]

College Student Launches Website For Entrepreneurs. AwesomeWebsiteNow.com, founded by 21-year-old college student Thu Quach, is designed to, “help small businesses attract new customers.” Quach creates websites in order to help pay for her college tuition. Quach had originally taken a year off to work, but quit her 9-to-5 job, pursued her passion of web design, and is now able to attend and pay for classes and living expenses through revenue from her website. [Houston Chronicle]

Leor Reef is a journalism intern with Campus Progress.

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