WEBVTT - Session 451: Student Loan Forgiveness & Reclassifying Degrees 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.480 Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:19.320 conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.480 decisions we can make to become the best possible versions 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:26.600 of ourselves. I'm your host, doctor joy hard and Bradford, 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:32.040 a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.600 to find a therapist in your area, visit our website 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.440 at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com. While I hope you 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.479 love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.400 not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:57.800 a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so much 0:00:57.800 --> 0:00:59.840 for joining me for session four fifty one of the 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.000 Things for Black Girls Podcast. We'll get right into our 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:16.319 conversation after word from our sponsors. Student loans have always 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:18.760 been a source of stress from many of us, but 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:23.880 with recent policy changes shifting repayment requirements and propose funding 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:27.399 cuts to certain graduate programs, that stress has reached a 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:31.680 new level. From confusion about repayment restarting, to fears about 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:37.600 forgiveness programs disappearing, to conversations about reclassifying degrees like nursing, psychology, 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.960 and social work. There's a lot of information circulating and 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:43.760 not all of it is accurate to help us or 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:46.440 through what's really happening and what we can do about it. 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.480 I'm joined by doctor Sonya Lewis, also known as a 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.320 Student Loan Doctor. Doctor Lewis is a financial expert who 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:58.240 has helped tens of thousands of borrowers navigate repayment, forgiveness, 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:02.240 and financial strategy. What began as her answering questions after 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.120 church has grown into a seven figure consulting business with 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.840 coaches around the world. If something resonates with you while 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:12.080 enjoying our conversation, please share with us on social media 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.680 using the hashtag TVG in session, or join us over 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.280 in our Patreon to talk more about the episode. You 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.680 can join us at community dot therapy for Blackgirls dot com. 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:29.120 Here's our conversation. Well, thank you so much for joining 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:30.200 us today, doctor Lewis. 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:31.799 Thank you so much for having me. 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.040 I would love for you to tell us more about 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:36.480 how you got into the work that you're doing supporting 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:38.320 families with financial aids. 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:44.480 So this work begun two thousand and fifteen in Philadelphia, PA. 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.080 That's where I'm from. I was really on a journey 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:50.640 trying to figure out my own financial situation as it 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:54.360 relates to just becoming an adele understanding student loans. And 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:57.639 also that's my professional background. And I took a financial 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:00.800 literacy course at church and what I realized and this 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.600 course was there was no one to really talk about 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.480 student loans or what to do with them. And so 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.560 because that's what I have already been doing professionally, at 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:12.120 that point, I said, well, I can help people and 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:16.120 teach them after class at the church, having lines of 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:19.440 people coming in for a consultation that I never said 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:21.200 I would give. But we're in the house of the Lord, 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.639 so how because you not? And then I said, oh okay, 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:26.160 I said, well, if people are willing to come, I said, 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:27.919 they could pay me for my time. We could meet 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:31.000 at corner bakery. I feel like every great business starts 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:34.040 at a bakery somewhere with the plug and Wi Fi. 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.600 And then sometimes you have to flirt to get the 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.480 table with the plug. But it's all right. So that's 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.720 how it went for like the first six months. I 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:43.520 didn't know any better. I was just trying to charge 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:45.920 an hour when I got paid at work, because there's 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:48.080 no concept of where you're supposed to be paid as 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:50.080 a business owner and then I was like, I think 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:51.560 I need to go up with my prices. I need 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.839 a row office. Long story short, I was able to 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.080 growing into well technically it's a seven figure business now 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.000 consulting business, and I have coach all over the world, 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.040 but it really just started with me answering and helping 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:07.000 people at the church. So here we are today, yea. 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.320 And I would imagine that you have seen so much 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:11.760 in terms of how the landscape has changed from year 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.200 to years. Are there some major themes that you feel 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:16.880 like have come up in your work with your students 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:19.279 or with your clients, and you've been maybe your coaches 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:21.360 and their clients that you think are important to kind 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:25.080 of highlight. I think that every administration has a different 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.200 tone of how they handle student loan repayment, and so 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.480 we brace ourselves because I've now been through a few 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:33.880 administrations with this and unfortunately right now the timing of 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:36.840 this podcast where it is miss stuff just making sure 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:40.360 that people understand that this administration they won't require you 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.480 to pay, They're going to not make things so easy. 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:47.039 We're coming off of a five year repayment pause because 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.520 of the pandemic, so there's a lot of anxiety there's 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.039 a lot of unknown There's a lot of unclear and 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:57.600 not true information circulating around too that we try to 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.680 clear up for people. But we know that student loans 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:05.040 lives in the middle really of everything, financial health, emotional health, 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:05.920 just even. 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:10.400 How people interact with their personal relationships. If I get married, 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:13.400 do I have to tell my partner about my student loans? Yes, 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.120 it shows up later it's time to go buy a 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.599 home together. So depending on what they come to the 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.440 table with will depend on the problem that we're tackling. 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.000 Yeah, so it sounds like a lot of the questions 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:29.680 recently have been around like repayment, right, Like, whereas you know, 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:31.880 in the past couple of years, we've had a little 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.479 bit more laxed, a little bit more leeway, And you're saying, 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:38.279 now with this administration, folks really should be focusing on, Okay, 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.320 how do I actually start to repay these loans? 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:43.280 Yeah, because if you don't, they will. So what I'm 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:46.680 telling everyone is that the process of repayment has started, right. 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:50.039 A lot of people didn't know that, which is okay. 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.440 Over half of them have started repayment, but over half 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:55.960 of them didn't know. You only find out when your 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.240 credit score drops or when you go to make a 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.520 big purchase and then it shows up. So people are 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.200 really surprised that. And I think that there was like 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:07.560 this thing that people were going to be notified that 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.919 that repayment was happening. They're not notifying anyone. 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:13.680 And so you mentioned that you feel like there's also 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.960 a lot of misinformation out there, maybe about the repayment 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:19.880 process or maybe about the process of getting loans in general. 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:22.280 Can you clear up maybe some of those nets or 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:25.040 bad information that you've heard out there. So a change 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.200 that was recently announced with this administration was that they're 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:33.320 going to be reclassifying or declassifying certain programs that really 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.680 put people on the uproar because it feels like a 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:39.000 personal attack, like, what do you mean my nursing degree 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:41.960 is not professional? Right, we'll use that field for example. 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:46.920 Technically, what the administration was saying is that certain fields, 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:51.520 because of the return on investment from a student loan perspective, 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.640 did not pay out as well as others over the years. 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.280 I think this administration did not lead properly with we 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:02.599 are declassified or we classify in certain fields because there's 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:05.120 a high default rate. If the administration would have led 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.200 with numbers. I think people could understand numbers better than 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.800 just you're not a professional. I think that there was 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:15.280 an opportunity to educate people instead of like penalizing them. 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:18.280 But here we are. So that's one big change. You 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.680 have to know for those listening that are going to 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:22.960 go back to grad school or just in general go 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.840 to college, or they have family members, or if someone's 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.160 listening to their child's about to go to school, if 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.960 your child wants to be let's say, a teacher or 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:35.040 a nurse, the question is there enough funding to take 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.520 them all the way through? Therapists are including this too. 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:41.400 There's a lot of people business owners like for nbas 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.280 is there enough funding to take you all the way 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.320 through to complete your degrees at a master's or a 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:51.600 doctoral level? So should you choose right? That's first big 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:54.320 change because if not, that requires people to say we're 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.760 gonna need scholarships, were gonna need grants, We're going to 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.160 need to help our child pay for school. The second 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:03.400 big thing is they're eliminating some repayment plans, So now 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.400 we have to make sure that people are educated on Okay, 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.920 this is what repayment looks like. This is what you're 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.320 going to be required to pay all your credit score 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.480 is going to drop. We want people also to be 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:19.960 aware that forgiveness programs still exists, they're still around. The 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.560 problem with that, though, is that the funding for forgiveness programs. 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.760 I want to use an example like Barber's defense. If 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.200 you went to a school that was a for profit 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:33.040 school like University of Phoenix or DeVry, you're eligible to 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.319 get some of those loans or all of those loans forgiven. 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.960 The challenge with that is that after July they can 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:41.800 take some of that funding away. So in our space, 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.960 we're trying to educate the new person coming in, we're 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.520 educating the person that's in, and then we're educating the 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.880 person that doesn't yet know about forgiveness programs they're eligible for. 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:53.439 So every day we're kind of like in three headspaces 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.040 with our clients. Just depending what the person has going on, 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:58.280 we kind of see what part of the conversation they 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:00.280 need to deal with first. Does that answer your question? 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:01.800 Because there's so many things. 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:03.040 Be does and I have a lot of follow up 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:05.680 questions that I'm sure will also help to kind of clarify. 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:07.760 So one you just mentioned that like people are in 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.280 three different phases, right, Like they are coming into the system, 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:12.320 they're currently in, or they're like kind of out and 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.120 still figuring out. Like what the repayment options are, So 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:19.960 student loans, I'm wondering they do not work on like 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:23.160 you follow the guidelines that were set when you answered 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.160 the program. Right, So if I like got loans ten 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:28.720 years ago, and like the rules were that, you know, 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:30.600 I had ten years to pay it back or whatever, 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:33.520 does that change with every administration? Or am I locked 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:36.240 up or whatever I signed at the time I signed it. 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:38.960 I'm going to answer this question professionally. People signed a 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:41.480 promisary note, you can't do that. They're like, okay, take 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:45.240 it back. So to answer your question, in general, that 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.400 is not legal to do. So I always say, we 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.240 don't know what this administration, what day, and what hour 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:53.800 you'll get. So to answer your question, if you signed 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.520 up for student loans ten years ago, there's a promisary 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.719 note in which you will abide by those terms are 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:01.080 still so relevant today. 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.280 God very okay, perfect, Like you said, in general, right, 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.200 because we don't know what could be happening tomorrow. So 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.079 the next question, and I definitely want to spend more 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:12.120 time talking about this. I am trained as a psychologist, 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:14.600 so there has been lots of conversations in the mental 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:18.840 health states around this, like declassifying and changes in classification 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:23.199 to things like psychology, nursing, social work. This is the 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:25.200 first time I'm actually hearing it put the way that 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:27.640 you put it, and so I do agree that you 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.120 know that is the messaging that maybe could have let it. 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:32.319 But I think for a lot of people this has 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.880 felt very targeted, right because we also know that this 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:37.120 is a space where we find lots of black women, 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:40.600 right like in the helping professions. I'm curious if these 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.079 seals are the ones that you're saying are not having 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:47.079 like a high return on investment, what feels actually had 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.720 a higher return on investment in terms of the ones 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.079 that maybe are still classified as professional. 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.720 So when we talk about the reclassification, we know that 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:59.880 historically students entering these fields that we're targeted are coming 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:04.600 from a people of color, working class families, first generation backgrounds, right, 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.600 you name it, and so there's already financial barriers there. 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:11.040 And so what we're seeing is that when we looked 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.440 at the data, like let's just talk about data, the 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:18.520 data show that students that completed degrees, particularly not so 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:20.440 much at the bachelors of I do want to stress 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.839 that though, and the masters in the doctoral level had 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:27.800 a higher default and less repayment rate. Now, there could 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:31.000 be a lot of things that we could really dive into, right, 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.440 and now we're talking about adults too. We're having trouble 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:38.079 with prioritizing repayment. And so this administration said, and I 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:39.920 don't agree with this, by the way, I'm just saying 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:43.720 data data shows that there were high default rates in 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.320 these areas, but it also could be that there just 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:49.959 could be a lack of understanding money, understanding how student 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:53.839 loans work, understanding repayment options. And I want to say this, 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:59.120 a lot of these programs are really expensive. So doctor Joy, 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.959 what I always like the answer here is that don't 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.800 make just the student or the barrower accountable. Make the colleges, 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:10.400 the universities accountable. Why are these programs six figure programs? 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.920 So then when someone comes out they're going into the 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.720 field of psychology, for example, everyone's not starting off with 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:18.920 six figure salaries. 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:19.840 Most people are not. 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.199 But they borrowed it, right, Yeah, So the problem is 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.240 is that it's not a good investment in terms of 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:31.280 money wise, that we would say, okay, borrow two hundred thousand, 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.760 but you're only going to get paid fifty. But when 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.800 we talk about fills that are on track with repaying 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.719 their loans, let me say this too. This administration has 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.120 taken away a lot of data driven websites. So my 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.240 background is that I was studying how African American women 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.960 were impacted by Loan Day. So there were websites that 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:50.920 I would use to pull on for data like this 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:54.000 because that's what I will study it and my doctoral degree. Girl, 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.560 they're going now. So what I will tell you to 0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:58.840 be true is when we think about someone that is 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:01.720 going to be agnor well, they probably won't take that 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:05.680 financial funding away from them because the school won't comply 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:08.719 with changing their prices. See what I'm trying to say 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:11.760 is that this is a big problem with our entire ecosystem. 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.360 The education system is so messed up that why are 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.559 we allowing schools to charge this amount of money? Then 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.479 people have to borrow this amount of money. This administration 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:25.520 does not believe in federal funding period. This administration believes 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.480 that funding should come from states or private So when 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.679 we saw them pull what I call a chess move 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.280 and say, hey, we're going to take some funding away 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.600 from these degrees. What they want people to do doctory 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.319 let's not forget who makes money from this when they 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.440 leave office. They want you to go to a local bank. 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:45.240 Let's say go to a local P and C. And 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:49.400 they want people to apply for a private loan at 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.880 P and C. Now we know that credit is not 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:57.160 treated fairly amongst black and brown women specifically, so then 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:01.280 there could be what denials. I see your question directly 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:04.520 by saying that there isn't necessarily a published site that 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.920 shows the programming of who are paying back their loans, right, 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:10.760 It's just that they honed in on these particular fields 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:14.000 which historically affect people of color, particularly women. 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:27.040 More from our conversation after the break, and I think 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:31.320 it is a conversation around the larger ecosystem of care 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.240 because you mentioned like, oh, they're probably not going to 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:36.080 take away funding from people who are going to medical school, 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:38.560 for like the neurosurgeons. But the neurosurgeon can't do his 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.160 work if the nurse is not available to also of this. 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:42.120 It's right here. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.600 Well, so it does feel like this weird ranking which 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.440 I think is always a conversation in the medical space, right, 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.520 see six people in an hour. A social worker is 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:52.400 only seeing one person in an hour, right, and so 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:54.240 the rates are already not the same, and so it 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.640 is a larger conversation I think around just the hierarchy 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.680 that exists both in the mental and medical se but 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:03.080 also then what does that mean in terms of care 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:05.360 for our community? Because we know when there are more 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.480 black therapists, like social workers, black nurses, then we are 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.040 also typically working or at least a higher rate of 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.240 us are working in spaces where our community is also serviced, right, 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:17.040 And so that means I think a lack of care 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:20.600 or the level of care and consideration that we would 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.240 be expecting for our community to be able to get. 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:25.440 So, doctor Joe, I could trigger with this conversation a 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:27.400 couple of ways, right, because as a black woman, when 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:29.920 the information first came out, I was all in my feelings, 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.480 let's just I'm human. I was like, oh wait a minute. 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:34.600 Then I'd put my scholar head on. Okay, they had 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:36.400 put a scholar head on. And then I started doing 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.720 some data research just to kind of see what they 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:41.200 were saying. And something I think that was important to 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:44.080 come out was that it wasn't just about any particular profession, 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:47.360 although we know who it impacts the most. It was 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.520 really re evaluating the program and the borrowing limits because 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.160 of the data. Just the money part of alone, right, 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.040 And when I look at what I do, I've helped 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.320 over fifty thousand people collectively with my team, and if 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:02.600 I could be honest with you, yeah, these fields have 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.200 a higher borrower and default rate. I have data that 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:09.280 shows it just in my back end. Now let's just 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:11.640 put that on the table and say that this doesn't 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.400 make people bad people, and I mean paid enough to 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.520 pay back what they borrow. But we still need these 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:19.480 people in these fields and professions. But then doctor Jorie 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.840 put another hand on and this is just me personally 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:24.480 moving into a more philanthropic stage in my life. I 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.160 think about what we really need our community to start 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:30.960 being community, Like we really need to start looking at 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.720 where are our dollars going and how can we support 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:38.920 students in these fields, Like where could my dollar be 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.520 better served at in terms of scholarship money. Now, I 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:45.600 also want to demystified in this season that everyone listening 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:49.080 could do a scholarship back to one person at their church, 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:53.600 their high school, their college, to help our next nurse, 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.640 to help our next therapist, our next psychologists. And it 0:16:57.720 --> 0:16:59.400 really is going to have to start to look like 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:03.760 that because I just think that the funding window federally 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.040 is going unless we get some change of administration, it's 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:10.840 going to get smaller, more restrictive, more biased. And then 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.840 I think that we're going to have to really call 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.640 on bigger entities like with the NAACP does right, our 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:20.119 churches are going to have to be more targeted with 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:23.240 the students in our community, our community members such as 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.520 you and I. Could we have a scholarship for the 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.200 therapy for black girls. And I think that's where I'm 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.960 leaning into because sometimes there are problems that are just 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:35.520 bigger than us. The first question I just asked myself 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:37.560 when all this came out is well, what can you do? 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:38.000 So? 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:39.679 I know what I can do as a professional. I 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.040 can on my platform, I still long doctor platform. I 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.159 can educate, I do free classes every Monday. Anyway, I 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:47.200 maybe I do some more right, Maybe I could and 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.560 actually not. Maybe what caused me to do this was 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:51.919 when this news came out, I reached out to a 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.159 lot of specific platforms like those that do, for example, 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.359 with nursing, and I said, hey, I want to go 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:00.800 to a hospital and see a black nurse. That's what 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.080 I want to see. I want to work with black therapists. 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:08.360 I want my dinnis black. Like I'm really very selective. 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:10.840 That's what I want. But if I want that, then 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:13.920 I got to support that too. And so now, see, 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:15.800 doctor Jerry, I got to open up the ecosystem. Now 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.760 we got to open up the community. We really in 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:22.440 this country, we have an education problem, down to investing 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:27.159 in ourselves, down to let's not support these institutions that 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:29.840 are costing this much money. Why don't we support our 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:33.919 community in state colleges more. We got to destigmatize that 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:36.280 you went to a community or state college. You should 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.600 go there, right because it's the same teacher teaching. Hear 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.400 it and I lead school at the same day. And 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.320 then as a community, what can we start doing within 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.320 our own communities. I know this year, doctor Joy, I 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:50.399 gave a lot of money to my high school, and 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:53.160 I'm committed to giving more to my high school and 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:57.000 to my college. That's where my giving between that times 0:18:57.400 --> 0:18:59.720 in the community. That's what I'm doing because that's the 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:01.920 only thing I could think that would make me feel 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:06.119 better about investing in the future of the landscape of 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:09.680 these professions. Okay, I'm answering your question in several ways 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:16.439 because I'm a woman, a black woman, you a practitioner dollar. 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.400 This is a huge, huge problem, and I don't want 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.920 this conversation to be it. So I appreciate you asking 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:24.280 these questions because I don't want this conversation to be 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.680 swept under the rug because it's not a headline anymore 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:30.120 because someone's listening their kids or their cousins. 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:31.880 Or their We're in that window right now, like people 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.679 are getting their acceptances and yeah, so this is the 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:36.920 time to really start thinking about it. So when does 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.600 this like new law go into effect, doctor Lewis, So 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:41.840 at what point is this. 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:43.439 It's still got if right? 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:46.040 Okay, so it's still it's not official yet. This is 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:47.080 just something on the table. 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:49.119 Let me say something about this administration, Honey. They can 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:53.439 put out something like it's done. I need the laws, 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.119 like I mean, but it doesn't matter because he's not 0:19:56.160 --> 0:20:00.200 really following the laws and rules as it's written. Pull 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:02.480 out your chat GPT. It matters because when we have 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:05.719 mid term elections and we have bigger elections at large 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:08.280 because we know that these things aren't law yet we 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.040 can still have things in place to change them. It 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:13.080 does matter. And I'm glad you said that because you 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.480 could feel listening or seeing headlines like it's right here 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:18.840 and then you can check out. I'm telling you almost 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:21.280 to me, So I'm telling everyone listening to check back in. 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.960 You can still enforce change. So they're proposing for these 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:28.520 changes to occur as of July first, like there are 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:33.520 opportunities with really just at our local, our state government 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:37.280 that impacts what happens even on federal levels. So yes, 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:40.960 to your point. When this administration shares things, I'm saying 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:43.840 this for everyone listening, it could feel like that's it. 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:47.120 That's how they drop announcements these days. I ain't see 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:49.199 nothing about it. Now you will think that there's no 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.560 judicial process. What I do appreciate is that there are 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:56.600