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Bill would require colleges to report institutional debt totals and demographics to MHEC, proponents tell committee
Summary
Supporters asked the House Appropriations Committee to require Maryland higher-education institutions to report annual totals and borrower demographics for institutional debtthat students owe directly to schools, arguing transparency is necessary to detect disparities and inform policy.
The House Appropriations Committee heard testimony on House Bill 920, which would require Maryland public and private institutions of higher education to report annually to the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) the total dollar amount of institutional debt held by students, demographic breakdowns and the types of institutional charges that generate debt.
Sponsor Ryan Spiegel said the landscape of institutional debt is opaque because only institutions hold the data. He cited a national study estimating a multibillion-dollar market of institutional debt and said a Virginia report showed Black and Hispanic students disproportionately carry institutional balances. "Shining a light on this information will help us better understand the scope of the problem," Spiegel said.
The Student Borrower Protection Center and others told the committee that a limited public-information request showed participating Maryland institutions reporting roughly $58 million owed by nearly 32,000 students at a subset of schools. Amy Salata of the Student Borrower Protection Center said reporting is feasible: Virginia produced a report after passage of a similar law and Maryland institutions responded to information requests within months.
Dr. Tisa Silver Kennedy, founder of the Maryland Center for Collegiate Financial Wellness, gave examples of students blocked from graduation or driven out of college by relatively small institutional balances and urged transparency so policymakers can tailor interventions.
Ending: Supporters asked for a favorable report and said the bill would enable data-driven policy to address inequities in institutional debt collection and student outcomes.
