MADISON, WI (September 16, 2022) — Last month, President Biden announced a plan to cancel billions of dollars of student debt for as many as 43 million people nationwide. The decision sparked some controversy and many competing claims about the student loan market. How does the market for student loans really work? Why has debt escalated to the point that we need to provide relief? Was the debt cancellation program structured effectively? What is the debt situation for UW–Madison graduates? What policies should we consider to keep higher education more affordable?

On the next UW Now Livestream, leading UW-Madison experts will discuss financial aid and forgiveness. This presentation will be moderated by Mike Knetter, president of the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association.

Our featured guests:

Cliff Robb, PhD, is a professor of consumer science and the chair of the Department of Consumer Science in the UW School of Human Ecology. He studies consumer financial decision-making, with an emphasis on financial knowledge and capability. He is particularly interested in the financial decision-making of young adults, with an emphasis on college-student debt management and well-being. Robb is a past president of the American Council on Consumer Interests, from which he has also received multiple awards. He is also an associate editor of the “Journal of Consumer Affairs.”

Kim Ruhl, PhD, is an associate professor of economics and the Mary Sue and Mike Shannon Chair in Economics at UW-Madison. He is also codirector of the Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy (CROWE). Ruhl’s research focuses on international economics, models of firm heterogeneity, and national income accounting. He is currently a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a special sworn employee of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, where he studies the ways that multinational firms produce and sell goods and services around the world.

When:                          Tuesday, Sept. 20

                                    7 p.m. CDT

Virtual Presentation:    https://youtu.be/AWQZHDel6rE

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