After years of struggling to pay federal student loans used to attend the for-profit Corinthian Colleges, hundreds of thousands of student borrowers will have their debt canceled. Corinthian closed in 2015 after investigators found it had defrauded students with misleading claims about future job prospects. Earlier this month, The Department of Education discharged all outstanding debt for all Corinthian borrowers.

With over a trillion dollars owed, federal student loan debt has been called a national crisis. Advocates for the cancellation of all federal student loans hope the Department of Education's latest move could signal a step in that direction.

We speak with political strategist and student loan cancellation advocate Melissa Byrne.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy