AAUP@FHSU

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AAUP to support federal student loan relief efforts

We continue our efforts to fight the student debt crisis, this time in court. The AAUP joined the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in filing an amicus brief this week in the US Supreme Court in support of the Biden administration’s efforts to grant much-needed relief to individuals holding student loan debt. Our brief argues that a plan announced by the secretary of education in August 2022 to partially forgive student loans for certain eligible borrowers is a lawful exercise of authority granted by Congress.

In the brief, we stress in particular the financial challenges that the pandemic has created for college and university faculty who hold student loan debt. Drawing on several individual accounts and AAUP reports, the brief explains that the pandemic “has deepened the already substantial financial hardships and employment instability of adjuncts and other university faculty.”

A longer summary and a link to the full brief can be found here.

The court challenges arose last year after the Department of Education granted up to $10,000 in student-loan relief to eligible borrowers with annual incomes under $125,000, and $20,000 to qualifying Pell Grant recipients. Following the Biden Administration’s announcement of this new plan, six Republican-led states filed a lawsuit seeking to stop its implementation. A federal district court dismissed the lawsuit after finding that the states lacked standing to sue, but a federal appeals court revived the lawsuit and has temporarily enjoined the plan’s implementation pending a final decision on appeal. The Biden administration has sought further review in the Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear arguments in the case on February 28.

We will update you as the legal situation develops, and will continue to push for more actions and policies that alleviate student debt in ways that move us towards a more just and equitable society.

Risa Lieberwitz, AAUP General Counsel


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2022 AAUP Highlights

To roll us into the new year on a high note, we’ve created a video with some highlights of the AAUP’s work in 2022—from the special report Governance, Academic Freedom, and Institutional Racism in the University of North Carolina System to major research projects like the annual Faculty Compensation Survey—and of the AAUP’s affiliation with the American Federation of Teachers.  

Watch the recap on YouTube here or click photo watch.

Screenshot from the AAUP highlights video

Thank you for being a member of the AAUP! You can find links to all of our reports and other materials on our website at aaup.org.

In solidarity in 2023 and beyond.

The AAUP

P.S. A reminder that you can continue to follow our work in 2023 in many ways. We have new episodes of our podcast AAUP Presents out, so catch up on all episodes and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform now. We’re also on the major social media platforms: we’re @AAUP on Twitter, and here’s the link to our Facebook account. Our Instagram account is @AAUPNational.


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New Episodes of AAUP Presents Out Now

Our podcast AAUP Presents is back with two new episodes, featuring interviews with authors of recent articles in the Journal of Academic Freedom and Academe.

In the first episode, I sit down with Lori Latrice Martin, a professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at Louisiana State University, to discuss what Professor Martin describes as the “predictability of efforts to silence conversations and actions related to combating anti-Blackness in America and the continued use of Black deaths to further the social, economic, and political progress of non-Black groups in the academy and beyond” in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. Listen here.  

In the second new episode, I talk to Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, an associate professor of history at Loyola University Chicago, and Charlie Eaton, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Merced, about the past, present and future of the student debt crisis in the United States. It’s a fascinating history that has brought us to a pivotal moment where debt forgiveness and a path to a debt-free future seems possible, but remains fraught with political and social barriers.Here’s the episode (with links to listen on your preferred podcast platform).

Both are fascinating and thorny topics; give them a listen. You can find these episodes (and all previous ones) here on our website.

We’ll have more episodes for you in 2023.

Enjoy the holidays,
Mariah Quinn, Digital Organizer, AAUP


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Student Debt: How AAUP Can Help

A lot has been happening around student debt! Last month the federal government announced it will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 or $250,000 for households. Forms will be available in October to apply for debt relief. Learn more here.

In addition to debt relief, there’s an important deadline coming up for those who are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), which includes many faculty. The “limited PSLF waiver” that created time-limited changes to PSLF rules to allow borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF ends on Oct. 31, 2022.

We can help as that deadline approaches. As an AFT affiliate, we are continuing to offer free access to Summer, a trusted online platform that can help you navigate your student loan situation and simplify the PSLF application process. Summer was founded by student loan borrowers, who understand the frustration of the repayment process. And Summer is already working with thousands of borrowers like you to help them save on their student loan payments.

The Summer tool and team guides borrowers through options to consider, gives savings recommendations, makes decision-making easier, and handles all of the paperwork. Whether you have no idea where to start, or just want to confirm that you’re in the right repayment plan, Summer’s resources and staff can guide you.

Here’s how to create your FREE account with Summer:

  1. Note that your AAUP member ID is 1709503
  2. Head to our landing page at app.meetsummer.org/onboard/aaup.
  3. Create an account by submitting your name, email, and AAUP member ID. When prompted, use the access code AAUP. We’ll use your submission to confirm your membership and validate your Summer account.
  4. Get started with Summer’s free tools to review your student loan repayment plan.

Once you’ve created your account, if you have questions about the platform, please email support@meetsummer.org or check out Summer’s help section, where you can send a message or schedule a consultation. If you have questions about your member ID or an AAUP related issue you can reach out to the AAUP at SLassistance@aaup.org. Information on Summer can also be found on our site, including a recording of a webinar with an overview of the platform and PSLF and a link to login instructions.

We continue to keep you updated as we do more work around student debt and fight for a new deal for higher education.

The AAUP


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Stronger Together: The AAUP-AFT Affiliation

This day after Labor Day, in addition to celebrating and appreciating all workers, we celebrate the just-finalized historic alliance between the AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers. Now, together, we represent more higher education workers than any other union. Our game-changing partnership brings together AAUP’s academic expertise and AFT’s power and reach, and creates a movement with the strength of hundreds of thousands of higher education workers. Together, we will be stronger in our work to dismantle systemic racism and fight white supremacy; we vow to bring a racial equity lens to all aspects of all of our work. Together, we will be more effective at beating back outrageous legislative intrusions into the academy—intrusions that obliterate the academic freedom needed for effective teaching, research and free inquiry. Together, we will be united in our efforts to ensure that higher education plays its essential role as a public good in a democracy.

Because our affiliation builds on our successful joint organizing work, we anticipate bringing even more academic workers into our movement, and we anticipate being able to disseminate AAUP’s essential work on academic freedom and shared governance more broadly throughout the higher education community. We will be working together to organize a more powerful academic labor movement around our principles on campuses, in statehouses, and in Congress.

This has been one of the most invigorating summers of our careers, beginning in June when delegates voted overwhelmingly to ratify the affiliation agreement at the June 2022 Biennial Association Meeting, and continuing into July with the signing of the agreement at the AFT convention to thunderous applause and digital fireworks. Now, as we start the new academic year, we get to work as partners protecting higher education, demanding that higher ed lives up to its promise for everyone. We’ll be fighting with you and for you. It’s an exciting time and we have never been stronger.

In solidarity,
Irene Mulvey, AAUP President
Randi Weingarten, AFT President

Irene Mulvey and Randi Weingarten holding an AAUP Redbook
  AAUP-AFT Alliance f2022