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Student loan relief: Mapping benefits of President Biden's plan

DemLabs blog

April 20, 2022

Student loan relief map of benefits from President Biden's plan

"Biden To Cancel Student Loans For Thousands" - Newsweek

How do you let more people know the benefits of a plan that will help thousands of Americans, when billionaire owned media outlets focus on stirring outrage and grievance?

Make your message simple, engaging and easy to share. Use visual learning principles to improve its odds of being heard in a flood of right wing propaganda.

Student Loan Relief - mapping the benefits of President Biden's plan.
Share this map freely with this link or as a GIF

Focus on what matters - not right wing distractions

Some politicians choose to distract voters rather than talk about real issues. So while Governor Abbott is busy talking about the danger from a butterfly farm in Texas, focus on what matters to more people. Such as how much President Biden's plan will help thousands of borrowers in Texas with billions in student loans. Imagine a state with over 100,000 people over 60 owing $3,770,000,000 in student loans and the Governor wants to talk about the threat from butterfly farms! Check the Student Loan situation in your state with this link.

Thousands of people in Texas own billions in student loans.

Biden to Cancel Student Loans

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a new plan to address "long-standing failures" within federal student loan programs, and the changes are set to result in immediate debt forgiveness for some 40,000 borrowers. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government has paused the restart period for federal loan repayments six times, with the most recent extension lasting through August 31. The Department of Education has said that it will revise several aspects of income-driven repayment (IDR) programs in order to help borrowers inch closer to becoming debt-free. - Newsweek

How do you pack information about a complex but important issue like this to be easy to understand?

Goldilocks model of information sharing

Goldilocks Model of Info Sharing. Too little info and people don't have enough context. Too much, and they tune out. Deliver just the right amount of info for people to bite into, based on their appetite.

This map uses the Goldilocks model approach of providing just enough info - not too little nor too much.

  • Simple map with key message. Shared as a link.
  • Legend and option to click on map to get local details.
  • Link to new source.
  • Action Button launches video, displays message and links to the call to action.

This map was designed in four hours using ArcGIS Online and data from the Enterprise Data Warehouse of Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education (Data as of March 31st, 2019). This federal student loan portfolio includes Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), and Perkins Loans with outstanding balances. Balance includes outstanding principal and interest. Learn more about map design for social justice and voting rights here.

Follow the Goldilocks Model of sharing information in layers so you provide just the right amount of information. Not too little. Not too much.

Design better maps with simple user interface and call to action.

TakeAway: Increase the odds of your message being heard in a flood of propaganda by designing it to be easy to understand and share.

Deepak
DemLabs

biden,loan forgiveness,student loan

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