Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Marian Conway
New Student Loan Forgiveness Rule Threatens Nonprofits, Sparks Two Lawsuits
A new rule regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program issued by Donald Trump’s administration through the US Department of Education puts at risk the program that allows for nonprofit and public sector works to have loan balances forgiven after making 120 monthly payments. The new rule takes effect July 1, 2026. Created by Congress in 2007, the PSLF program has provided student loan relief to over one million public sector and nonprofit worker borrowers.
The New Student Loan Regime—Pauses, Pain, and Limits on Forgiveness - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
When President Donald Trump signed his so-called Big Beautiful Bill into law on July 4, tax cuts and cuts to Medicaid and food stamps understandably got the greatest attention. But also contained in that 870-page bill are cuts to higher education. As reported in The New York Times, “The student loan changes are expected to save the government more than $300 billion over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate.” How is that “savings” going to occur?
Advocates Mobilize to Stave Off Cuts to Federal Student Loan Programs
In March, NPQ reported on President Donald Trump’s executive order to create an ideological test that would determine whether public service workers employed at nonprofits are eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, based on an organization’s scope of work. Since 2007, PSLF has led to loan forgiveness for over one million borrowers who work in the public or nonprofit sector and who have made 120 qualifying monthly payments.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Who and What Is at Risk?
On March 7, the administration of President Donald Trump signed an executive order (14325) titled “Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness.” The Orwellian-named measure, however, does nothing to “restore” public service loan forgiveness. Instead, it sets up an ideological test that seeks to determine whether a nonprofit where a person works is a qualifying nonprofit for loan forgiveness or an ideologically non-qualifying nonprofit.
Why Black Teachers Matter
A recent published in the American Educational Research Journal found that Black students are less likely to be unnecessarily placed in special education classes when they are taught by Black teachers. The study, “Teacher-Student Race Match and Identification for Discretionary Education Services,” found that the results were strongest for Black boys, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged.
Biden’s Student Debt Cancellation: As “Plan B” Emerges, What’s at Stake?
A year ago, in Biden v. Nebraska, the US Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s executive order to cancel up to $20,000 in debt per borrower. Since then, the Biden administration has taken incremental steps to reduce debt. As of January 2024, 3.7 million Americans had received a total of $136.6 billion in debt forgiveness. By April, those numbers had increased to $153 billion for 4.3 million Americans. But most Americans with student debt have still not received any forgiveness to date.
How to Build a Solidarity Economy: The Logic of Non-Reformist Reforms
As co-coordinators of the US Solidarity Economy Network (USSEN), we routinely face the joys and challenges of working with a wide range of social change agents and organizations to advance an explicitly post-capitalist framework. We’ve been at this for a while.
To Decommodify Housing, We Must Challenge Homeownership
The following is a transcript of the video above, from our webinar “Remaking the Economy: A Policy Vision from the Movement for Black Lives.” View the full webinar here. Rosemary Ndubuizu: The value of…de-commodified housing that’s rooted in gender, racial, and Indigenous justice would require that we start to unpack some very ugly truths about our economy. In this country, 20 percent of our Gross Domestic Product is housing-related. It’s all about the housing economy.
The Long Shadow Climate Change Casts on Traditions
On February 2, 2024—known as Groundhog Day in the United States—the Pennsylvania groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow. According to legend, that means winter is on the way out. “We all just want the promise of spring,” wrote NPR in a story about the celebration, where thousands gather annually in the small town of Punxsutawney in the early morning to watch the rodent make his prediction. If the groundhog sees a shadow, it’s six more weeks of winter.
In the Wake of Bonnie Candia-Bailey’s Death, Students Amplify Their Calls for Change
On February 8, one month after Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey’s suicide, dozens of Lincoln University students and alumni gathered outside the university’s Board of Curators meeting to protest what they believe to be the lack of accountability and unanswered questions surrounding Candia-Bailey’s death.
Student Debt Update: More Relief Announced, but Millions Remain Left Out
By signing up for our newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Student Debt Update: More Relief Announced, but Millions Remain Left Out
For some borrowers who have applied for federal student loan forgiveness, 2024 started off on a positive note. The administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced on January 19 that it had canceled an additional $4.9 billion in student loans for almost 74,000 borrowers, including nurses, social workers, firefighters, teachers, and others.
Unpacking Biden’s Latest Student Debt Forgiveness Plan—And What’s Next? - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Not long ago, most federal student loan borrowers received the following email message from the US Department of Education: As a result of legislation enacted by Congress, the student loan payment pause is ending. Student loan interest will resume Sept. 1, 2023. Payments will be due in October 2023 for most borrowers. We understand that your life may have changed since the last time you made a student loan payment, or this may be your very first time making a payment.
Nonprofit Hospitals Pursue Aggressive Medical Debt Collection
Some of the most aggressive and widespread debt collection tactics in the United States are those taken on behalf of nonprofit hospitals. Increasingly, these hospitals, granted tax exempt status partly because of the benefits to society they purport to convey, are teaming up with for-profit debt collection companies and employing some of the most notorious tactics, from aggressive phone calls to lawsuits and wage garnishments.
To Make Policy Changes Happen, We Have to Be in the Room
The following is a transcript of the video above, from our webinar on “Remaking the Economy: Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories.” View the full webinar here. Brielle Wright: I’m on a couple of food policy councils, and it has been very rewarding. I don’t know that I knew as much about food policy before I got involved in these spaces. And I think this is what kind of pushed me in terms of the advocacy space, not realizing how much is connected to the food that we eat.
Student Loans Update
Last August, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt (and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients) for borrowers earning $125,000 or less (and couples earning $250,000 or less). Those were not, however, the only changes to the federal student loan program that Biden announced. And some of these other changes—in particular, modifications to the way that payments owed are calculated—could substantially lower the cost of education for millions of Americans.
How Can We Work Together? Black Farmers Collectivize to Change Markets
The following is a transcript of the video above, from our webinar on “Remaking the Economy: Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories.” View the full webinar here. Sign up for our free newsletters Subscribe to newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.
What Really Destroyed Tulsa’s Black Wall Street
The 1921 race riots in Tulsa were one of the most devastating outbreaks of white violence against African Americans during Jim Crow. A year ago, around the 100th anniversary of the massacre, national publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, produced retrospectives, as did the Tulsa Oklahoman.
Our Movement for Black Lives Is Right Here on the Shop Floor
Erica Smiley: I’ll speak specifically to like what we’re seeing within companies like Amazon and Starbucks—right, these upsurges of workers. And when you when you ask workers what it is that motivated them—yes, they want more compensation. Yes, they want to be treated with respect and dignity in relationship to their wages—and many of them were radicalized by the murder of George Floyd.
Leashing the Monster: The Biden Administration Tackles Federal Student Loan Forgiveness
This July, the US Department of Education announced the release of proposed new federal student loan regulations, using language that only a bureaucrat could love, but which nonetheless affect millions of federal student loan borrowers nationwide.
Debt Collection Without Representation: Congress and the Student Loan Crisis
“Today would be a great day for President Biden and Vice President Harris to #CancelStudentDebt,” Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tweeted about one week after the Biden administration took office in 2021. The Senator’s message is a popular one, repeated by other progressive Democrats online and elsewhere. But why are federal representatives taking to an online platform to demand debt cancellation?
How to Qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Avoid the Traps
Photo by marcos mayer on Unsplash The US Department of Education recently issued a statement on the federal student loan servicer website, myFedLoan.org, that should be noted by anyone with a federal student loan who works full time for a nonprofit, the government, or other public agency (veterans also qualify).
Will Biden Fix a Dysfunctional Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program?
While an announcement that borrowers of federal school loans will have their outstanding balance cancelled—or at least will get $50,000 forgiven—is still hoped for by many, work has started on deconstructing the existing federal school loan system to assist those who have qualified, or should have qualified, for cancellation of their debt but never made it across the finish line.
Two Philanthropic Strategies Aim to Boost Faltering Local News
“Amplified,” Nick Divers Will philanthropy step up to address the gap in local news coverage as more and more communities see local papers disappear? As Tom Stites observed last month in NPQ, “A quarter of all US newspapers have failed since 2004, and the COVID-19 pandemic is only making this grim trend worse.” There is no doubt that in recent years philanthropic support of nonprofit journalism has increased, even though it still falls short of the need.
Federal Student Loan Debt Burden Hits Gen X and Boomers, Not Just Millennials
“Delete Student Loans,” Hollywata Just a few hours after the newly inaugurated President Biden signed his first 17 executive orders, one of those appeared as a change on the Federal Student Loan website: “On Jan. 20, 2021, the COVID-19 emergency relief measures were extended on [US Education Department]-owned federal student loans through Sept.
Biden Takes First Steps to Meet Climate Promises
“City Hall lit green honoring the Paris Climate Accord,” Dana L. Brown As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris prepare to take office on Wednesday, they face many challenges. In late December, Biden named four challenges as primary: COVID-19, the economy, racial justice, and the climate emergency. But how does Biden intend to convert rhetoric into policy?
Pandemic Adds One More Obstacle to Nonprofit Student Loan Forgiveness
Photo: Student Loan Forgiveness application and reminder note by Marco Verch under Creative Commons 2.0 December 9, 2020; Marketplace As NPQ has noted before, qualifying for public student loan forgiveness has never been easy. But now accumulating the requisite 120 payments has gotten a lot harder. The reason: the disappearance of many nonprofit jobs. In September 2020, there were 976,620 fewer US nonprofit jobs than there were in February before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fossil Fuel Industry Is Losing Power
Credit: Richard Hurd.
As the NRA Turns: The Latest Episode
“CREDO Calls on NRA to Stand Down,” Josh Lopez. November 25, 2020; The Trace and the Washington Post The Nonprofit Quarterly has an archive of the soap opera that is the National Rifle Association (NRA). Charges have been made, which the NRA denied for years, that the executives were guilty of malfeasance and misspending.
Kerry to be First Presidential Envoy on Climate
“John Kerry Climate Quotation,” Environmental Illness Network November 24, 2020; New York Times and Common Dreams President-elect Joseph R. Biden will name John Kerry, former US Secretary of State, to be the first presidential envoy for climate, creating a new environmental cabinet-level position. Kerry played a significant role in negotiating the Paris Agreement, getting pledges from almost 200 countries to mitigate climate change.
Governors Urge High Caution for Students Headed Home and Their Families
Photo: Medical mask with the inscription Covid on a white plate. Thanksgiving table top view by Marco Verch under Creative Commons 2.0 November 22, 2020; ABC News, Inside Higher Ed, and Politico Thousands of college students who stayed on campus for the fall semester are heading home this week. But going home for Thanksgiving break looks nothing like it did prior to the pandemic.
Georgia’s Senate Runoffs Have Climate Emergency on the Ballot
“Earthcare Not Warfare (Decatur, GA),” Thomas Cizauskas November 13, 2020; Inside Climate News The hand recount of every ballot and all the voting machine audits in Georgia have been completed, and they confirm that President-elect Joe Biden has flipped the state to blue. It may not have been apparent, but the climate crisis was also on the ballot on Election Day, and it remains on the ballot in the runoff for Georgia’s senate seats.
Young Candidates Champion Climate Issues at the Local Level
October 26, 2020; Teen Vogue (Drilled News) Research from Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and Catalist, a Democratic data firm, reports that in the 2020 presidential election, two-thirds more early voters under 30 had already voted in Texas by 11 days before Election Day than they did for the presidential election in 2016.
Beleaguered NYC Human Services Groups Will Hold Future Candidates to Task
October 20, 2020; Gotham Gazette Human services, which typically depend on low-margin government contracts for their revenue, have never had it easy. In years past, the Human Services Council (Council), a New York City nonprofit membership organization founded in 1991 that represents over 170 providers, has pointed out many of the absurdities of its field. For instance, two years ago, the group produced a video that imagined a pizza shop that operated as a nonprofit.
In California, Community Colleges Receive Record $100M Grant
NeoBatfreak, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons October 20, 2020; Los Angeles Times The Jay Pritzker Foundation has provided $100 million to the California community college system. It is the largest gift ever given to community colleges in the US. The intent is to assist students to complete their degrees, transfer to four-year universities, and, most significantly, pay their basic living expenses.
Building New Homes: How Green Should They Go?
Jum Bae Bi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons October 9, 2020; Guardian A Pew Research Center report based on a survey this summer conducted across 14 nations found 70 percent of people agreed that climate change was the foremost threat to their country, with the COVID-19 pandemic coming a close second. Concerned homeowners recycle glass and plastic, use cold water in the washing machine, put solar panels on the roof if they can afford it, and calculate their carbon footprint.
Some Funders Experiment with “Genius” Model, Replacing Grants with Awards
“Spirit Paradise,” Jay Huang October 11, 2020, Guardian and New York Times, “Opinion” Prince William, the UK’s Duke of Cambridge, is concerned about climate change and environmentally damaging practices. Rather than providing grants for those working on reversing the damage, he has determined that providing awards is a better tool. William, along with journalist and natural world historian Sir David Attenborough, has announced a new monetary award for environmental work.
The Guardian’s Pledge for the Environment Produces Results
“Birmingham Climate Strike,” Nick Wood October 7, 2020; Guardian and Reuters The Guardian is a 199-year-old news service that started in the UK. In 2019, the Guardian made an environmental pledge to, among other things, report on the climate crisis and its effect on people, the natural world, scarce resources, and economic structures. They pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2030 and to stop accepting advertising dollars from fossil fuel extraction companies for all their formats.
Women Hardest Hit by Pandemic’s Economic Side Effects
Peter Griffin (publicdomainpictures.net). September 30, 2020, Guardian and NPR In the early weeks of the global pandemic, it was expected that, like a hurricane, earthquake, or other disaster, its impact would be felt everywhere, without discrimination. But once the dust settles, the virus’ effects were shown to be “racist, ageist, classist, and sexist” and more harmful to those with pre-existing health issues and disabilities.
How to Repurpose a Defunct College: Nonprofits Morph during the Pandemic
“Old Library Entrance,” Marygrove College September 28, 2020, Detroit Free Press Approximately 65 small colleges have closed since 2016. When they do, that leaves an empty campus to deal with. Do they just put the key in the door and walk away? Repurposing the buildings and land is often left to nonprofits. Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, closed in 2010. In 2019, a nonprofit and a Christian school were in discussions about taking over parts of the campus, but plans were downsized and delayed.
Otto Bremer’s 3 Paid Trustees Face State Charges of Violating Their Trustee Role
Gabriel Vanslette / CC BY September 28, 2020; Pioneer Press On Wednesday, trustees of the Otto Bremer Trust will once again be in court to face state charges. In August, NPQ reported on the accusations against the Trust, a $2 billion private foundation formed to help people and communities with grants for mental health and housing, crisis care for victims of domestic violence, and job placement for people with disabilities.
New Jersey Passes Precedent-Setting Environmental Justice Law
Environmental justice reforms announced in Trenton at Amtico Square. 6/19/20 (Edwin J. Torres/Governor’s Office).
COVID Schools Confirm Assertion that Broadband is Critical Universal Utility
“Signal bars,” the Noun Project September 12, 2020; WNYT-TV and One Zero Right now, success in school, no matter what grade level, depends as much on access to high-speed internet as it does brick-and-mortar buildings. Parents, teachers, students, and school administrations rely upon broadband connection. Unfortunately, some households cannot afford it, and some communities don’t even have it.
Unsustainable Planet, Unsustainable Economy: It’s That Simple
Wbliss10 / CC BY-SA September 8, 2020; New York Times As we can see, an unregulated economy weakens the infrastructures of our lives on this planet, deepening every form of inequity along the way. This depredation is sufficiently expected that this extraction of wealth and resources causes little alarm even when distressed chaos reigns in a time of crisis. Consider the commodities market, which buys and sells raw materials like coal, gas, and oil and agricultural products such as corn and sugar.
Survival of the Fitting: The Real-Time Redesign of Community College
Emw / CC BY-SA September 3, 2020, Boston Globe The traditional fall college semester has become a blend of different experiences and opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonprofit Quarterly saw increases in enrollment and new programs at some colleges over the summer.
Austin Community College Is Green
Austin Community College / CC BY September 1, 2020; KVUE-TV (Austin, TX) With record-breaking wildfires in California and , it seems the reality of the global climate emergency is being reinforced on a daily basis. To answer the call, colleges are making advances into renewable energy and green practices. Austin Community College (ACC) is now the first community college in Texas to use 100-percent renewable energy on two campuses.
Another Trump-Related Nonprofit, Another Problem
Kareem Lanier, co-chairman of Urban Revitalization Coalition Inc., “President Trump Participates in a Roundtable on Race Relations,” White House August 28, 2020; CNN One after another, nonprofits associated with operatives in or around the Trump administration have hit the news and the skids. Most recently, we covered the criminal complaint against We Build the Wall and a related nonprofit controlled by Steve Bannon.
The Virus Goes Back to School: What Happened at UNC
Image by Eduardo RS from Pixabay August 19, 2020; Politico One week after the University of North Carolina system opened for in-person classes, more than 500 students were quarantined. According to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard, the university has seen 1,111 positive cases as of this writing; of those, 1,052 are students. Undergraduate classrooms at UNC have since shut their doors. The dean of UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, Barbara K.
Falwell’s Demise: A Potent Parable of the Importance of Leading by Example
“Jerry Falwell Jr. – Caricature,” DonkeyHotey August 25, 2020; New York Times, Reuters, and Politico An organization doesn’t always achieve success because of a brilliant leader. Sometimes, it thrives in spite of an incompetent or insincere one. Taking that one step further, it can be hypothesized that when there’s money, sex, and politics in the mix, actual responsible management is no longer the priority.
Feds Detail Terms of Student Loan Forbearance through Year-End
“Student Loan Calculators” by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images. August 21, 2020; Forbes and the Washington Post The pause on federal student loan payments and interest, which was originally supposed to end five weeks before election day on September 30 according to the CARES Act, was extended to the end of the 2020 by executive order.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Marian
Contact Marian, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack