Student Advocacy Day 2024 Targets Student Loan Debt

October 16, 2024

Student loan debt is crushing millions of students across America. And students studying communication sciences and disorders (CSD) are no exception.

The cost of a doctorate of audiology can range from $76,000 to $150,000, while a master’s in speech-language pathology ranges from $23,000 to $75,000. Among students studying for audiology and speech-language pathology degrees, more than two-thirds of master’s students and over three-quarters of doctoral students report having unpaid student debt. The greatest portion of students report having debt between $10,000 and $50,000.

This kind of debt keeps audiology and speech-language pathology degrees out of reach for many students. For those who graduate, it can lock them in a cycle of financial strain for years on end.

Students deserve better.

Student Advocacy Day

That’s where Student Advocacy Day comes in. Student Advocacy Day is a collaboration between ASHA and the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA). It’s an all-day virtual event on October 24, 2024, that gives CSD students the opportunity to band together and advocate for their field as a group. This year, we are targeting student loan debt by asking Congress to support the Student Loan Interest Elimination Act.

The Student Loan Interest Elimination Act would allow current federal student loan borrowers to refinance the interest rates of their current federal student loans to 0% and establish a need-based sliding scale for future borrowers capped at 4%. It would also create an Education Affordability Trust Fund to support the administration of the federal student loan program and offset the cost of eliminating and reducing interest on federal student loans.

In short, the Student Loan Interest Elimination Act would make CSD degrees more affordable and accessible—a win for students and their future patients.

How to Get Involved in Student Advocacy Day

NSSLHA aims to send 6,000 letters to Congress in support of the Student Loan Interest Elimination Act. Students can participate in a few different ways. They can:

send a letter to Congress through ASHA’s Take Action page. They just need to fill out the form on the right side of the page and hit “send.” Bonus points for sending the link to friends!
share their advocacy efforts on social media. NSSLHA has printable, customizable signs that students can write on and post about on Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms. Students can use the hashtags #NSSLHAstrong and #NSSLHAStudentAdvocacyDay.
organize a chapter event. Students can get a group of advocates together to write letters, plan future advocacy efforts, and more.

For more ways to get involved in advocacy, students can check out NSSLHA’s grassroots advocacy resources.