(with Sen Charles Schumer, Craig Camara closest to foreground)
On Monday, May 19, NY Sen. Charles Schumer spoke on Hofstra’s Campus to
unveil a proposal aimed at reducing student loan debt. I received a great
opportunity to attend the speech and stand behind the senator as he gave his
speech as well as speak to the media after the speech and tell them my story. Under
Sen. Schumer’s plan, students would be able to restructure their federal loan
debt to a much more manageable interest rate, allowing them more financial
mobility. While the average interest rate for most students with federal
student loans is hovering around 7% (with some going as up as high as 9%) Sen.
Schumer’s plan would allow students to lower that to about 3.8%.
As a student graduating with a lot
of student loan debt, this was a very reassuring message to hear for me. Coming
out of college while not currently employed and staring down potentially
hundreds of dollars in payments per month is certainly a terrifying notion. Being
able to restructure my debt down to a much more manageable interest rate is
definitely reassuring to hear. I loved my time here at Hofstra and I feel the
education I received, in addition to putting me in a good position to land a
strong job was well worth taking out my student loans to fund my education.
Being able to much more easily pay off those loans after graduation is really
going to help me out and get me on my feet. -Craig Camara, '14