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The Indian Eye
COMMUNITY OP-ED AUGUST 22, 2025 10
Helping New Yorkers Save Up to $1 Billion
with First-in-the-Nation Municipal Student
Loan and College Assistance Program
It will also help families save up to $10,000 per child through college planning resources
ERIC ADAMS
y mother was a single par-
ent who worked three jobs
Mjust to make sure my sib-
lings and I had a roof over our heads
and food on the table—so I know the
struggle to live a better life is real.
A college education can help
New Yorkers go far, but the finan-
cial burden of that education can be
overwhelming. For far too many New
Yorkers, pursuing a college degree
leads to a lifetime of debt. Many of
these New Yorkers are city employ- All New Yorkers deserve to live in a city where they and their families can get ahead and thrive (File photo)
ees, like Shiniqua, who — after pur-
suing two Master’s degrees, including major city in the nation to provide to $10,000 per child through college Working Class,” which eliminates
a Master’s in Public Administration universal student loan and college planning resources. Additionally, we and cuts city personal income taxes
— was left with $240,000 in debt. That savings assistance to all our residents. will help public servants and not-for- for 582,000 New Yorkers and their
is an unimaginable sum for most This is a major milestone for our city profit employees receive benefits dependents, putting $63 million back
New Yorkers and it shouldn’t be the and a lifesaver for hard-working New from the federal government’s Public into their pockets. These programs,
price you have to pay to achieve your Yorkers like Shiniqua. Service Loan Forgiveness program, combined with other federal, state,
dreams. Our program will help an es- which enables debt to be forgiven af- and local programs to which we have
That is why, earlier this year, our timated 1.4 million New Yorkers ter 10 years of service and payments. connected New Yorkers, have helped
administration announced a partner- manage and pay down their existing Since day one, our administra- put $30 billion back in New Yorkers’
ship with leading student loan-for- loans with lower monthly payments tion has been focused on putting pockets.
giveness company, Summer, to help and a pathway to debt forgiveness. money back into New Yorkers’ pock- All New Yorkers deserve to live
wipe out $360 million in student loan It will also offer specialized assis- ets. We are driving down the cost of in a city where they and their families
debt for 100,000 hard-working public tance for parents and guardians of living and spearheading initiatives can get ahead and thrive. Our city-
servants. And now, we are proud to college-bound children, helping 1.6 like the Earned Income Tax Cred- wide student loan and college saving
expand this program to all New York million more New Yorkers. Together, it to return hundreds of millions of assistance program, along with our
City residents and help working-class our efforts will help 3 million working dollars back to qualified low-income other Money in Your Pocket initia-
New Yorkers keep up to $1 billion in people keep up to $1 billion in their New Yorkers, connecting New York- tives, is a crucial step toward building
their pockets. pockets by reducing student loan ers in public housing to free high- a more affordable and equitable so-
Our municipal student loan pay- payments by an average of $3,000 per speed internet and basic TV through ciety — one in which working-class
ment reduction and college savings year, and, for those with advanced Big Apple Connect, and cancelling New Yorkers like my mother don’t
assistance program will allow New degrees, we expect the average pay- $2 billion in medical debt for work- have to struggle to get by.
Yorkers to reach for the American ments to be reduced by $7,000 per ing-class New Yorkers. Additional-
Dream without breaking the bank year. ly, this year, we successfully called Eric Adams is the Mayor of
as New York City becomes the first It will also help families save up on Albany to “Axe the Tax for the New York City, NY
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