How Sacramento Can Address the Rising Costs of Student Life

Recently I met with the president of one of the largest public universities in California. As the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Jewish Free Loan Association (JFLA), my purpose was to explain our student loan program, which offers zero-interest, zero-fee loans for college students regardless of religion, race or ethnicity. His first reaction was to cite the impressive statistic that 50% of his students were already on full scholarship due to their family income level, and asked me why they would they need to bother with a loan? But then he thought about the fact that many of those same students are food-insecure. He told me that the university needs to feed thousands of students a day.

This problem will only become worse as inflation continues to rise, making it impossible for many to remain in school.

The JFLA student loan program is posied to play a real role today in helping with this problem. While many grant and loan programs are targeted at tuition alone, JFLA’s student loans can be used for any necessity, such as food, housing, transportation, books, computers, and other supplies.

Founded in 1904, as a non-sectarian agency, JFLA’s mission is to deploy interest-free loans to help people get a hand up. The interest-free loan is non-predatory and offers people access to loans that they can afford to repay. JFLA’s lending program is unique. Because of our audited repayment rate of 99%, JFLA’s loans continue to help people for generations. As old loans are repaid, new loans are made.

In my 20 years working for JFLA, I have never seen the need for college loans as acute as it has been during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In my 20 years working for JFLA, I have never seen the need for college loans as acute as it has been during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past our no-fee, no-interest loans helped students remain in school, but these loan requests have been different. Without a loan, these students, as in the scenario described by the university president, could remain students but many might experience hunger, and even homelessness.

In November, UCLA published a report that stated that 1 in 5 California Community College students, 1 in 10 CSU students, and 1 in 20 UC students are experiencing homelessness, a number that has risen nearly 50% in the last decade.

Though the pandemic is abating, the volume of JFLA loan applicants continues to grow. Last summer, it hit me: if this need is so strong within the area JFLA covers (Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties), it must be present to a similiar the same degree throughout the whole state.

I decided I wanted to try to extend the reach of who JFLA is able to help. But while we have been able to raise millions of dollars to address our applicants, covering the state would be a different scale entirely. This effort would require tens of millions of dollars.

I decided to try to get funding from the state of California itself.

I met with state senators, assembly members, and other stakeholders throughout the state, all of whom immediately recognized how a state-wide, interest-free loan program would be critical to helping students attend and stay in college. Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi spearheaded a $30 million budget request for this initiative, with others signing on, including Assemblymembers Christina Garcia, Mark Berman, Vince Fong, Miguel Santiago, Jesse Gabriel, Jose Medina, Tim Grayson, Richard Bloom and State Senators Josh Newman, Steven Glazer, Monique Limon, Ben Allen, and Sydney Kamlager. The request has received hundreds of letters of support from organizations across the state, from hospitals to civil rights organizations to student groups and synagogues.

The budget request is not a done deal. Many entities are competing for funds in the current budget round. In the meantime, this week the JFLA student loan committee will review over 55 student loan applications. This is our fifth meeting this spring and depending on how many loans are approved, we may actually be out of lending dollars for the fall semester. Our student loans are considered on a first-come, first-serve basis to needy students. It is a terrible situation for students and this budget request is urgent. I am grateful to everyone who has supported the request.

Rachel Grose is the Executive Director of the Jewish Free Loan Association in Los Angeles, where she has worked to create equitable distribution of interest-free loans for twenty years.