For Immediate Release: December 14th, 2023
Contact: Tyler Bushnell, tyler.bushnell@nextgenpolicy.org

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, a group of leading student loan experts and academic researchers released a policy brief analyzing the impact of AB 1160 (Pacheco), “Protecting Students from Creditor Colleges Act”, a bill that addresses the educational barriers and economic harms associated with “institutional debt” – debt that students owe directly to their schools.

“As advocates working to protect and assist students across the college affordability spectrum, we’re thrilled with the findings, particularly the increased revenue estimates shared in the new AB 1160 (Pacheco) policy brief – the goal of the bill is to address California’s growing institutional debt crisis and this new report details how the bill does just that,” said Samantha Seng, Legislative Director and Policy Advisor for NextGen California.

In this brief, experts find that if passed, AB 1160 will provide much needed consumer protections for students and families; help increase student re-enrollment in California’s higher education segments; and help the state achieve its various higher education completion goals.  Importantly, the brief also projects an increase in much-needed tuition and fee revenue for colleges and universities across the state.

On Thursday, January 4th, from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Assemblymember Pacheco, NextGen team members, along with students and advocates will brief legislators and their staff on the issue of institutional debt and the critical importance of passing AB 1160. This event is open to the media and the public using this registration link.

If AB 1160 is successful, the bill would prohibit California colleges from engaging in harmful debt collection practices and would increase transparency to help ensure policymakers, researchers and the public can better understand how institutional debt impacts students, colleges and the economy. Notably, the UC professors who authored the brief estimate that AB 1160 would increase college revenues by helping to boost enrollment rates throughout the state.

“The NextGen team thanks Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco for drafting this comprehensive legislation, and our fellow co-sponsors at the Cal State Student Association, UC Student Association, Student Borrower Protection Center, Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), Young Invincibles, and Consumer Reports for fighting for student-centered policies,” added Seng.

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The mission of NextGen California is to fight for progressive policy change to address environmental, social, racial, gender, and economic inequities in California through justice-centered legislative advocacy, grassroots partnerships, and democratic civic engagement.