Giving Compass' Take:
- Writing for the Johnson Center, Tory Martin explores why institutional philanthropy needs to pay more attention and take actionable steps to help address the student debt crisis.
- Why are private funders poised to help combat this crisis? How is the student debt crisis also tied to racial justice?
- Learn why the racial wealth gap increases as student debt increases.
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This month, the team here at the Johnson Center began work on our annual 11 Trends in Philanthropy report; we’re gearing up to publish the 2022 report in January. We’ve been looking into many of the topics we see surfacing in philanthropy today, and using extensive conversations and research to determine whether or not what we’re seeing is a “trend” — defined as a topic or issue that is moving — or simply a significant issue that has yet to move much one way or the other.
In looking into the issue of student debt and philanthropy, we landed on the latter. We found a tremendous amount of astonishing data, but not much in the way of commentary, attention, or new work on this topic within our sector.
“In looking into the issue of student debt and philanthropy … [w]e found a tremendous amount of astonishing data, but not much in the way of commentary, attention, or new work on this topic within our sector.”
On a small-dollar scale, the proliferation of online crowdfunding platforms has made it easier for individual donors at all levels to help cover the costs of others’ education. As of 2017 (the most recent data we could find), over 130,000 campaigns to raise money for higher education costs on GoFundMe had collected over $60 million (Vivanco, 2017). LoanGifting (2021) launched in 2013 as an online platform specifically dedicated to letting individuals and families seek help with their student loans via online dashboards, gift tracking, and communications tools.
The biggest moves seem to come from individual donors, as well. In 2017, for instance, Nicki Minaj announced on Instagram that she had paid off loans held by eight of her fans (Melas, 2017). In 2019, Robert Smith’s Graduation Day announcement that he would pay off the student loan debt of every member of Morehouse College’s graduating class was met with wild cheers and a cascade of op/eds (2021).
Within institutional philanthropy, however, we found no evidence that addressing the student debt crisis is a major program or initiative of any significant private funder. As of today, addressing this crisis isn’t a trend.
Read the full article about student loan debt crisis by Tory Martin at Johnson Center.