International

Students in America Lament Loan Burden

Published

3 years ago

July 1, 2023

Charles Flames

675 Views

Americans are currently lamenting about the student loan burden which some students are kicking against.

If the United States Supreme Court had not overruled President Joe Biden’s programme to cancel billions of dollars in student debt, Satra D. Taylor, who borrowed $40,000 to complete her studies, could have seen that amount reduced by half.

Now the 27-year-old – who used the loan to study at the University of Michigan, supplementing a scholarship and other financial aid – is back on the hook for the whole sum.

“We created this unjust, inequitable, expensive, higher education system and so we need to redress it,” she told AFP, standing before the high court.

Biden’s forgiveness programme was meant to lift more than $400 billion in student debt weighing down the lives of millions of lower and middle-income Americans.

Certain borrowers would have been eligible to receive $20,000 in cancellations, while the vast majority were eligible for $10,000.

But the court overruled the programme Friday, stating that given the large sum, the president had overstepped his powers.

“Any American who wants to pursue higher education should be able to do so,” Taylor said.

“We have students now who have not acquired the generational wealth to pay for their cost of college, it needs to be debt-free,” added Taylor, who works for the youth advocacy group Young Invincibles.

Taylor said she was not surprised given the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, which on Thursday banned the use of affirmative action in university admission policies.

Taylor, who is African American, said the loan forgiveness decision was a setback for Black and Latino students who “would have disproportionately benefitted from this relief.”

“This is absolutely not only a social justice issue, but also a racial equity issue.”
– ‘Future generations’ –
Mina Schultz, 37, who borrowed approximately $65,000 for her studies, emphasized the impact student debt has on the entire economy.

When the pandemic hit and student loan repayments were frozen, it was “a blessing,” she told AFP from outside the Supreme Court.

People were “able to contribute more to the economy” by spending money elsewhere, whether on food as prices surged due to inflation or on things like rent, the George Washington University graduate said.

Schultz would have benefited from $10,000 in debt cancellation, which “would have been really helpful.”

That sort of money “is a huge deal to a lot of people,” said Schultz, who will be forking over some $340 per month when payments resume in several months.

Enjoying a seemingly debt-free life during the repayment pause, she was able to move out of her studio apartment and into a one-bedroom unit.

Nearby, Shanna Hayes, 34, could not contain her emotion as she spoke before several cameras: Her debt, originally $130,000, now exceeds $150,000 due to compounding interest that has accrued over the past 11 years.

“I ask you to remember that the student debt crisis impacts our grandparents, parents… children and future generations,” she told the reporters.

AFP

Related Topics:American STudents Featured Lament Loan Burden

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International

Survivors recount horrors as Spain mourns 68 dead victims of trains crash

Pablo Mejia, 42, escaped with injuries to his head, telling AFP that a last-minute change of seat saved his life.

Published

1 day ago

October 29, 2026

OCHEFA

38 Views

• AFP photo showing truck crane operating at the site of a train crash between two high-speed units, a Renfe AVE train and an Iryo train around 150 km south of Madrid between Urda and Los Yebenes in the province of Toledo, on October 28, 2026.

Spain began three days of mourning on Thursday after its second high-speed rail collision this year killed 68 people and injured scores, with relatives desperately seeking news about their loved ones.

The collision happened in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha on Wednesday morning when a service by state operator Renfe ploughed into the back of a stationary train belonging to private Spanish company Iryo.

Emergency services combed through the wreckage at night to find further victims on the key line linking Madrid with the southern city of Seville, hoisting pieces of mangled metal with cranes, AFP reporters saw.

Josimar Medina, a 31-year-old Peruvian who was holidaying in Spain with his girlfriend, said he was sleeping on the Renfe train when “I woke up and I was in the air.”

Pablo Mejia, 42, escaped with injuries to his head, telling AFP that a last-minute change of seat saved his life.

Wearing a bloodstained grey jumper and holding his tattered suitcase, he recounted “a very strong hit… a lot of people on the floor, on top of each other, seats ripped out, suitcases, a lot of chaos”.“I think I’ve been born again,” he said.

International

Death toll in Spain rail crash reaches 64, injures 80

More than 500 passengers were travelling on the trains involved in today’s collision, the spokesperson for the regional government says.

Published

2 days ago

October 28, 2026

OCHEFA

64 Views

At least 64 people have been killed, officials say, after a Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid, killed 64 passengers and injured 80.

The updated death toll makes the rail disaster the country’s worst since 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in north-western Spain.

More than 500 passengers were travelling on the trains involved in today’s collision, the spokesperson for the regional government says.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says he is “shocked by the serious train accident” and is in constant contact with the transport minister.

Rail operator Adif says the incident occurred between a Renfe train and another of the Iryo company, which covers the Madrid to Seville route”

It was a catastrophe” – a 17-year-old, who was travelling on one of the trains, tells a Spanish broadcaster there was “chaos” at the scene

International

Luxury cruise passengers stranded in Cambodia due to soaring fuel costs

Global fuel prices have soared since the Iran war started earlier this year. The ship’s operator said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia has risen to as much as $8,000 (£6,000) from $1,800.

Published

2 days ago

October 28, 2026

OCHEFA

60 Views

•Villa Vie Voyage ship

A luxury cruise ship on a years-long voyage around the world said it suspended operations due to extraordinarily high fuel costs, leaving over 200 passengers stranded in Cambodia.

The US-based operator of the Villa Vie Odyssey said it was working with passengers on disembarkation plans and “temporary living arrangements”.

According to the BBC, the nearly 200m (656ft) vessel departed Belfast in October 2024 for a “continuous voyage around the world”.

Villa Vie Residences said it had taken “significant steps to reduce fuel consumption, including slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port”. But those measures turned out to be insufficient to “offset the extraordinary increase in fuel costs”

“Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution,” it said.The company would spend the next 60 days on “restructuring and recapitalisation”, though “no outcome is assured”, it said.

There were reportedly around 200 passengers on board when they were ordered to disembark in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville, a once sleepy beach town that has gained global notoriety in recent years as a hub for Chinese casinos and scam centres.

The Villa Vie Odyssey’s voyage was expected to span 3.5 years and cover nearly 150 countries, according to its website.