'Barriers are going back up for us:' Students say SCOTUS rulings on student debt, affirmative action deter them from college

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

62% : But, Patel said, she’s hopeful the many cultural and racial campus groups that rallied in support of affirmative action in the last several years will continue to foster beneficial diversity for students of color on campus.
53% : That means gender and racial disparities in student debt just grow over time.
53% :  Patel, who is Indian American, is worried the court’s decision will lead to a decrease in racial diversity at UNC, which, despite previously being allowed to practice affirmative action, is a predominantly white campus.
52% : He dropped out of college after racking up $8,000 in student loan debt from his short time studying architecture at Kennesaw State University.
51% : Stifling diversity on campusReyna Patel, 20, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said she believes affirmative action boosted her odds of getting into the highly selective public university.
50% :  The administration also assured borrowers who can't make payments when the pause on student loan bills ends in October that they’ll “have a one-year reprieve on the consequences that come along with missed payments,” such as reporting borrowers who haven’t paid to credit agencies.
50% :  Young Black women, meanwhile, are the most likely to have student debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and their average loan balance is the highest among all borrowers at $11,000.
49% :  A survey conducted by Albert’s organization found nearly two-thirds of the debt accrued by its Native scholars was for student loans versus other kinds of debt.
45% : “I’ve held that accomplishment of graduating college so close to my heart, but leaving with tens of thousands of debt… That’s crazy,” said Maggie Bell, 24, an organizer in Albany, Georgia, and graduate of Albany State University who has $30,000 in student loan debt.
40% :  Shortly after the Supreme Court issued its opinion on Friday, President Joe Biden’s administration announced it hasn’t given up and will instead try to relieve student loans through the Higher Education Act.
38% :  Holding out hopeSara Youssef, 17, said she is not going to let the ban on affirmative action alter or impede her college application process.

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