From the beginning, my mom always told me that I needed to go to a good school. So, I was bused away from my under-resourced neighborhood school to La Jolla, a wealthier part of San Diego. There, many of my classmates already knew which colleges they were going to attend. They would say things like, “oh, I’m going to such-and-such school,’” or “I’m going to my parents’ alma mater.” Me? I barely spoke English, and my mom was cleaning houses.  

These students were already on a track to go to college. Meanwhile, I would look at my friends, riding the bus with me, and think, where—and more importantly—how are we supposed to go to college? The difference, the gap, was so apparent.  

Because the value of a college education was so impressed upon us, we believed that getting a degree was the best way to climb the socioeconomic ladder. So, we kept at it, and when it was time, many of us went to college. But when we got there, we wondered, how are we going to make this happen?  

For some students, their parents had saved a college fund. Whereas for me and my friends, in my neighborhood and my community, we didn’t have any of that. Our families believed in education, but they lived paycheck to paycheck. 

We had to figure it out on our own. And the gap in resources was compounded by a gap in knowledge. We didn’t understand the difference between grants and loans. And when you’re young and focused on earning a degree, you just don’t think about the consequences and effects of student loan debt.  

Now 20, 30 years later, we see the impact. We’re seeing the numbers – many people who share a similar background to me are struggling. They work hard but can’t buy a house or put money into a retirement fund because they’re still paying off their student loans – or they’re starting to take them on for their own kids. And they feel hopeless.  

In this country, college is promoted as the path to better careers and higher incomes, the way we can close the racial wealth gap. Kids like me and my friends on the school bus – Latino, Black, other historically underserved minorities – our families didn’t have money to help us with college. But we believed higher education would mean a better life. If we got that degree, we would have more to give our kids than our parents were able to give us.  

But right now, for so many people, it’s just not true. Students of color carry a higher debt load and end up paying their debts off more slowly. This can also lead to higher rates of loan default. In my role, I talk to people every day who are paying the price for trying to get an education, who’ve had their options in life narrowed by a student loan. 

That’s why I’m so committed to giving Californians with student loans information about their rights and options and resources – doing webinars and answering calls and emails. And it’s why I’m proud to be part of the team at the DFPI – a team that is looking out for borrowers, protecting their rights, and doing all we can to make education a force for equality that builds wealth for all Californians. 

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