Stef Gray aims to play the part of David as she battles the student loan Goliath, Sallie Mae.
Gray, a 23-year-old recent college graduate, initiated an online campaign in an effort to persuade Sallie Mae to stop charging student loan borrowers $50 for halting a loan for a three-month period, she described on a conference call Monday.
She said Sallie Mae only charges this fee to private borrowers, not to its federal loan customers. Gray also complained of a lack of safety nets for student borrowers.
“I just want the same protections that are guaranteed for federal loans for free to be applied to private loans,” she said.
Gray was able to collect more than 110,000 signatures from students across the country with the aid of social media.
“This petition is not about me — it’s about the 110,000 people standing behind me,” she said.
William Winters, senior organizer of Economic Justice for Change.org, said Gray’s campaign emphasizes the power of social media.
“You don’t have to sit back and take it when a corporation wants to do something unfair,” Winters said.
Gray said when she brought her box of signed petitions to the Sallie Mae office, she was coldly received and was refused a meeting with executives.
Gray said she shares her story with college students as a cautionary tale and encourages them to avoid taking out loans from Sallie Mae.
“The student loan crisis defers the American dream,” she said.
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Contact Emily Herrington at [email protected]