Zero Debt Massachusetts (ZDM) is a grassroots organization driven by the voices and lived experiences of students, alumni, and families impacted by the national student debt crisis. We focus our organizing efforts in those communities most disproportionately impacted by the burden of student debt in Massachusetts – low-income and communities of color. As an organization, we celebrate the strength we derive from our diverse backgrounds and bring those perspectives to our organizing work every single day.

Join our network and hear more from us by taking any of our actions below. They all take 2 minutes or less to fill out and you’ll be sending your elected officials - from your Congressperson and U.S. Senators to your State Representative and Senator and President - emails advocating for ways to protect student loan borrowers and address the larger crisis at hand.

• Joe Biden - Cancel ALL Student Debt - There exists an executive order pausing all payments on federally held student loans through May 1, 2022. Through a separate executive order, President Biden could invoke the exact same authority to cancel federally held student loan debt. Add your name to the petition, calling on President Biden to delay repayment until he cancels ALL student loan debt!

• Support ZDM’s 2022 Legislative Priorities!- Send a message to YOUR State Senator and State Representative, urging them to support ZDM’s 2021-2022 legislative priorities by co-sponsoring our four policies! Each of these four policies will bring the Massachusetts higher education system a step closer to being one rooted in justice and equity!

• Tell Your MA Senator: Support Professional License Protection! - Right now in MA, a working person who requires a license to do their job - barber, nurse, mechanic, teacher, social worker, among many others - could have their professional LICENSE REVOKED for defaulting on their student loan payments. This would not only take away their livelihood, but their ability to pay their student loans.

• Help Us End Transcript Withholding! - Nearly 100,000 students statewide have been impacted by transcript withholding, an unfair practice universities participate in by denying students access to their own academic transcripts due to unpaid balances to the school - some as small as $25!

• Pass the Debt Free Future Act! - State funding for public higher education in Massachusetts has been cut drastically in the past 20 years, resulting in significant tuition and fee increases and one of the fastest-growing student debt burdens in the nation. This bill would create a grant program to cover tuition and fees for all MA residents then covers additional costs of attendance (housing, transportation, books, etc.) for low income students to attend any MA public college, university, or certificate, vocational or training program.

• Share Your Student Debt Story - Our stories are the most powerful tool we have to affect change. From seizing the public narrative to swaying the minds of decision makers, sharing our lived experiences in the form of personal stories is an invaluable way to bring about change!

In Solidarity,

ZDM Organizing Team (Claudio & Kristina)