Anti-Debt Hero #1 — Alan Collinge

ByBob Hertz June 27, 2023June 27, 2023

Alan Collinge has been waging a media war against student debt for about 20 years. He uses news articles, facebook posts, and interviews to further his cause.

His organization is called Student Loan Justice.org, and his goal is to get politicians and the media on the side of debt relief.

Here is a sample of a recent Collinge communique:

“We have to flex this muscle we have. Our opposition is overwhelming the media with anti-cancellation, anti-borrower hit pieces.

We need EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY YOU to write letters to the editor in their local newspaper.

Will you please step up, and give it a shot in your local newspaper, or a paper in your state?
Anyone can do this. It takes little time (literally a couple of paragraphs). Say whatever you want, but please be to sure to call for the return of standard bankruptcy protections to the loans and/or the cancellation of the loans. Make it strong. Make them feel your pain!
Please let us know when your letter publishes, so we can brag about it to the rest of the group, and inspire them to write their own letter. “

Alan originally borrowed $38,000 in student loans from Sallie Mae to complete three degrees at the University of Southern California. In 2001, after making about $7,000 in on-time payments, he left his gig at Caltech on the promise of a government job that evaporated after 9-11.

He was underemployed for two years, making ends meet as a short-order cook in Alaska; his student loans went into default. “When I got back from Alaska, I got a bill for $85,000 and it pretty much blew me away. That’s when I realized that somebody is making a lot of money around this deal.” Today, Collinge owes $105,000 to the Department of Education.

He started studentloanjustice.org in the spring of 2005. “I was losing hours of sleep because of my personal situation,” he says. “So I spent my time on this.” He pored over SEC filings to find out how much student loan execs earn, and how much they give to politicians. Collinge believes that loan “servicers” like Sallie Mae got to the top by trampling student borrowers like him.

Alan Collinge Carries On

He contends that – the Department of Education has been making a profit- not a loss- on defaulted student loans. The government can pursue borrowers for their entire lives, and there is no recourse.

He is unimpressed by the 2022 announcement that the Departments of Justice and Education plan to stop opposing student loan borrowers in bankruptcy court.

The new method calls for borrowers to plead their claim of undue hardship to the agencies, not to the bankruptcy court justices.

To Collinge, this keeps undue hardship completely intact. The only difference will be that the borrower pleads their case to unelected, unappointed bureaucrats (or more likely, contractors) for the Department of Education.

Collinge believes that the Department of Education has never had any true desire or intentions of cancelling or discharging loans through forgiveness, Income Driven Repayment or any other programs they have administered.

His long-term efforts in the cause of loan justice makes him the first of our Anti-Debt Agenda heroes.