Kevin had been shot in the head in his Burlington apartment.
“Everybody in Vermont was so amazing. Like, electric bill was forgiven, you know, gas bill was forgiven, cable. … People were so moved by this kid that was murdered in his own home,” DeOliveira-Longinetti said.
She said the federal government wiped out Kevin’s Stafford loan debts as well, but the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority – the source of nearly $19,000 in additional student loans – did not.
“Please accept our condolences on your loss… Monthly bill statements will continue to be sent to you,” DeOliveira-Longinetti read from the HESAA letter.
When she gets the bill in the mail, it’s a reminder that her son is dead and will not graduate, DeOliveira-Longinetti said.
“I know what a co-signing is. If it defaults, I’m responsible. I know that,” she said. “You’re not going to say to your kid, you can’t go to college because of $4,000.”
Earlier this month, an investigation by ProPublica and The New York Times looked at HESAA and quoted a lawyer who likened it to “state-sanctioned loan-sharking.” ProPublica reporter Annie Waldman interviewed dozens of borrowers including a cancer patient who lost his job and couldn’t repay his loans. HESAA sued him for $266,000.
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