Dreams Deferred

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi's (D-Chesterfield) legislation to ban the practice of transcript withholding at Virginia’s public colleges and universities cleared the Senate, passing 25 to 15.

Burke had only attended classes for one week in fall 2017 when she decided it wasn’t the right time. When she left VCU, she says she was told she didn’t owe any money for tuition. But even though Burke occupied her VCU dorm for less than two weeks, she was still charged for the entire semester’s dorm rent.

VPM reached out to over a dozen lawmakers about our recent Dreams Deferred series to get their thoughts about what else needs to be done to address the direct-to-school debt crisis.

Virginia Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield) is sponsoring legislation this year to ban transcript withholding as a form of debt collection for students who attend public colleges and universities in Virginia.

Direct-to-school debt affects thousands of Virginia college students. We've explored how policies and state laws create hardships on students, making it difficult for them to complete their degrees and advance their careers. In this installment, we unpack solutions that schools in other states have developed.

Relatively small amounts of college debt can hold students back, especially those from lower-income households. And although Virginia colleges and other state agencies are mandated to aggressively collect such debt by state law, schools can be more flexible in their policies, and make different decisions about how to inform students of their debt.

A VPM News analysis of court records found that between April 2020 and April 2021 — during a global pandemic — the attorney general’s office sued to collect years-old tuition and fees from over 150 Virginia State University students. They also attempted to garnish several students’ wages. The balance due in most cases was between $3,000 and $5,000 before fees.

Over the past year, VPM News has been looking into a hidden type of debt affecting thousands of Virginia college students. It’s not federal student loans — which dominates most of the headlines. It’s money owed directly to institutions, called direct-to-school debt.