Department of Education: Make It Clear You're Not Going to SWAT Team Students

The student loan crisis is huge, says Kyle McCarthy, part of the team behind the film Default: The Student Loan Documentary. With one in five students now defaulting on their school loans and student loan debt surpassing credit card debt, the problem isn't going away anytime soon.

But there's one thing he's asking for - one thing that could make the situation better, almost with a stroke of the pen.

United States Department of Education, could you make one thing clear, to Kyle and to all American students: you're not going to SWAT team our homes if we can't pay our student loans, right? McCarthy and the team at Default started a Change.org petition, asking the Department of Education to come out with a strong statement, letting students know they won't be criminally prosecuted for unpaid debt.

Last week, Kenneth Wright told reporters that special agents led by the Department of Education broke into his home at 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The Department has said that student loans were not the issue - that Wright was under criminal investigation by the agency. But Wright claims that his estranged wife's student loans were the reason he was given for why he was grabbed by the neck, handcuffed and put in a police car in front of his three children.

After that kind of news story, students around the nation have been spooked, says Kyle McCarthy. And it's no wonder. Earlier this year, the Department of Education stated that it would be stepping up its efforts to collect delinquent student loans. With the recent rise in imprisoning debtors, an action that's supposed to have been made illegal in 1833, along with the SWAT team story, what are students supposed to think?

"So many people are so terrified," said McCarthy. "There's such a huge number of people that are defaulting. This is a time where we have to be transparent."

Education Dept. Spokesman Justin Hamilton previously told reporters, “The Inspector General’s office does not execute search warrants for late loan payments," but McCarthy wants the department to be clearer: defaulting on student loan payments is not a criminal act and not something students will go to jail for.

In the days since the charge on Kenneth Wright's home, McCarthy says students have flooded Default's facebook page, asking if the same thing could happen to them.

"Grants are being decreased. Tuition is going up," said McCarthy. "Young people have been told for so long that they have to go to college, but they're just overwhelmed by debt."

In addition, students struggling to pay back debt don't have the protection of bankruptcy. Even though a consumer who racks up thousands in credit card debt can get a fresh start, students can't do the same with their school loans.

"There's no way out. You better figure out this money some how," said McCarthy. "So many people are just terrified - they can't get a job now, they can't pay it back."

If the Department of Education doesn't have a solution to the student debt crisis, they should at least be clear with American students that they won't go to jail over school loans they can't pay back. Let your voice heard by signing their petition: Dept. of Ed: Clarify that defaulting on your student loans is not a criminal act!

Photo credit: Kevin Jarrett