This is a movie that Student Progressive Dane and the newly formed Badger Impact Coalition (a committee formed to combat the New Badger Partnership) will be showing. The movie will become increasingly relevant as tuition skyrockets here at UW-Madison and students have to take out increasingly huge loans that are being coined as "financial aid."

This movie will display just what "financial aid" is and what a great burden it is to possess it upon graduation. A must see for all students interested in the New Badger Partnership! A substantive discussion will follow the film, so come prepared to talk!

Film Description:

"'Default: The Student Loan Documentary' is a 27 min. long documentary chronicling the stories of borrowers from different backgrounds affected by the student lending industry and their struggles to change the system.

No matter when their loans were taken, many borrowers now find themselves in a paralyzing predicament of repaying two, three or multiple times the original amount borrowed, with no bankruptcy protection, no cap on fees and penalties and no recourse under the law. The consequences are dire, with stories of borrowers in financial and emotional ruin.

While the media has focused on the disaster that sub-prime mortgages have turned out to be, only superficial attention has been given to financial giants which have been profiting by approving loans to low-income students with variable interest rates up to 25%.

As The National Consumer Law Center concluded in their March 2008 report titled “Paying The Price: The High Cost of Private Student Loans and the Dangers for Student Borrowers”, there are ominous signs that “the student loan market is headed for the same fate as the subprime mortgage industry."