Debt Protesters Disrupt Student-Aid Group’s Parade

A small but vocal group of student borrowers crashed a parade of financial-aid administrators here on Monday, demanding free college for all.

The protest, which was organized by the Debt Collective — the group behind the debt strike started by former students at Corinthian Colleges — came on Day 2 of the annual conference of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, or Nasfaa.

Roughly three dozen borrowers and activists confronted the aid administrators toward the end of the parade route, shouting, “Go to college, get in debt!” and “Student debt IS a crisis!” (a response to a debate earlier in the day in which conference attendees voted in favor of the side arguing it was not). Wearing red felt squares, the symbol of debt strikers, the students wove among the crowd, handing out fans urging administrators to advocate for tuition-free college and tossing fake $35,000 bills into the air.

“Sallie Mae the corporation is here to stay!” yelled one protester. Another accused the paraders of being “foot soldiers” for the student-loan industry.

They were met with a mix of sympathy, bemusement, and occasional contempt from the aid administrators, many of whom were wearing Nasfaa T-shirts and carrying umbrellas bearing the names of their institutions.

“You’re protesting the wrong people,” said one administrator. “We give scholarships to students. I don’t get your argument.” Said another: “I work at a low-cost community college, sweetheart. Maybe you should research who we are before you protest.”

Other administrators responded sympathetically, saying they supported free college. When a few of the protesters chanted, “No cuts, no fees, education should be free!” one administrator waved a wad of the fake money, and shouted, “Yes, we agree!”

Ann Larson, a protest organizer, said Nasfaa should have included free college among the “big ideas” that presenters offered at a conference session earlier in the day.

“This organization is ignoring that option,” she said. “We’re trying to insist that they consider it.”

Also on Monday, the Debt Collective falsely claimed on Twitter that it had won Nasfaa’s “big idea” challenge with its plan to make college free. The student group also created a fake Twitter account appropriating the conference hashtag — #Nasfaa2015 — to respond to comments made in conference sessions and to tease the coming protest.

We won the #NASFAA2015 Big Idea Policy Challenge! Free #highered is possible. http://t.co/KQUlLOYoIL pic.twitter.com/VYvWsHk1KM

— Debt Collective (@0debtzone) July 20, 2015

Justin Draeger, Nasfaa’s president, said the association wants to help former Corinthian borrowers but isn’t sure what the protesters want from aid administrators. In a news release, Nasfaa reminded reporters that it had been working with borrowers to help them apply for loan discharges.

“They have legitimate concerns,” he said, in an interview before the parade. “But I think their tactics get in the way of their message.”

Kelly Field is a senior reporter covering federal higher-education policy. Contact her at kelly.field@chronicle.com. Or follow her on Twitter @kfieldCHE.