Join SLAVE

Student loan borrowers as a group possess tremendous potential strength due to the number of persons with outstanding student loan debt and the massive amount of their aggregate indebtedness. There are over 16 million borrowers with current outstanding student loans guaranteed by the federal government, reflecting over $250 billion in outstanding student loan debt (Frenkel, 2002). The only way student loan borrowers can exercise their substantial power, however, is to join together in collective action to protect their shared interests. The SLAVE association has been established exclusively for this purpose. Membership in SLAVE is limited to individuals who support the SLAVE mission to protect the interests of student loan borrowers. SLAVE membership is free, so create a new member account today.

Volunteer

SLAVE welcomes volunteers with non-legal skills or interests related to the development and maintenance of our website, and a willingness to help expand our reach and enhance our influence by spreading the word among the student loan borrower community about the importance of joining and supporting SLAVE. The more people who become active in our organization, the greater our impact will be on the student loan industry. Please volunteer based upon your areas of expertise and interest.

SLAVE also invites attorneys, law school graduates, law students, and paralegals to review our volunteer opportunities for legal advocates. Volunteers with legal training and experience participate in the planning, development, and implementation of SLAVE legal strategies to protect the interests of student loan borrowers throughout the nation. Potential co-counsel candidates should visit our co-counsel page to submit information regarding qualifications and experience.

Involvement of legal and non-legal volunteers possessing a wide range of experience, expertise, and interests is crucial to SLAVE's goal of joining individuals from across America in the fight to protect the interests of student loan borrowers.

Join the ranks of potential plaintiffs

If you are a student loan borrower who believes you have been harmed by the student loan system, use this form to register your interest in participating in a class action lawsuit as a member of the plaintiff class. Also provide a description of the harms you have suffered using our harms submission form. Then submit your name using the plaintiff class submission form to express your interest in being a plaintiff class member in a class action lawsuit.

Forums

Visit our forums to exchange your experiences and ideas with similarly situated persons, and with other individuals who support student loan industy reform, regarding a variety of topics. Participating in our forums helps create a more cohesive community, and helps to document the harms suffered by student loan borrowers. Contributing to our forums will provide visitors to our website with the opportunity to relate to the unfairness of particular harms suffered by student loan borrowers, increasing the visibility of the crisis and support for our cause beyond the population of student loan borrowers.

Chat

Participate in chat sessions with student loan borrowers, attorneys, law school graduates, law school students, paralegals, and other members of SLAVE who support student loan industry reform. Establish real-time working relationships with other SLAVE members. Develop new methods of working in teams to accomplish the SLAVE mission, goals, and objectives.

Blogs

Create a customized blog on our blogs page. Tell your story, and create connections with other blogs, and with other web-based resources. Blogs present exciting opportunities to establish connections with other SLAVE members, and with people outside the SLAVE community. Use our blogs feature to develop and reflect your views and perspectives on the student loan crisis, providing unique insights regarding harms suffered by student loan borrowers to SLAVE members and visitors. Help educate others through the power of the blog! Check out Harvard Law's GlobalVoices to see how powerful a good blog site can be.

Books

Write and publish your own book on our website, or collaborate with others in writing and publishing a book on topics related to the interests and lives of student loan borrowers. For example, you could create a book in collaboration with other SLAVE members about strategies student loan borrowers can use in dealing with the student loan industry or the U.S. Department of Education. The possibilities are endless, and your contribution to our community and to the achievement of the SLAVE mission will be truly significant.

Polls and surveys

Participate in polls and surveys by responding to surveys developed by other SLAVE members, and by developing your own polls and surveys to be completed and submitted by other SLAVE members. We encourage you to onceptualize and submit new polls that will improve our shared understanding of the negative impact of student loan industry practices on the lives of student loan borrowers, their families, and their communities. Use our polls feature to investigate and document the perceptions of student loan borrowers regarding issues relevant to the protection and promotion of the interests of student loan borrowers.

News

Stay informed regarding recent events affecting the student loan industry landscape in general, and student loan borrowers in particular, by watching our student loan RSS news feeds on our news page.

Contact your Congressional representatives

Visit our legislative links page for information on how to contact your Congressional representatives in Washington to voice your support for student loan industry reform.