A senior from UW-Milwaukee joined with hundreds of students from across the country outside of the U.S. Supreme Court this week, to support President Joe Biden’s student loan relief plan.

What You Need To Know

  • After camping outside the court overnight, Sinyetta Hill was one of the first people admitted inside the U.S. Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in two cases looking to block the Biden Administration's student debt relief program

  • Hill, a first generation senior at UW-Milwaukee, has acrued $20,000+ in student loan debt

  • If approved by the court, the president’s program would forgive up to $20,000 in loans for eligible applicants

Sinyetta Hill, a senior political science and psychology major at the university, camped outside of the court Monday evening in the hopes of being at the front of the line the next morning.

"I was the third person to get an admission ticket," Hill told Spectrum News. "Watching this historic court case happened, that was just amazing."

Hill's trek from Milwaukee this week was her first time in Washington, D.C. And she says it was an unforgettable trip.

"It was all worth it, just connecting with other students, hearing their stories, being able to give my speech" she said. "It just inspired me to get up and stand up for what I believe in and take up space."

After sitting in on the hearing, Hill left cautiously optimistic about the fate of the legal challenges blocking Biden’s student debt relief program. She thought the court, while unpredictable, would be understanding just how invaluable this program would be to students like her.

"I'm a first generation, low income student. I'm one of the first people in my family to go to college. So upon entering university, I had to take out some loans, my mother had to take out Parent Plus loans. [She also] draws disability. So right now, I'm in a lot of debt," Hill told Spectrum News.

Hill says she owes about $20,000 in student loans. If approved, the president’s program would forgive up to $20,000 for eligible applicants. 

She said it's long overdue help but not a solve-all. Two years ago, she joined the national student advocacy group Rise. The organization is pushing Washington for a more comprehensive federal fix to the ballooning student loan debt owned by tens of millions of Americans

"Once we accomplish student loan debt cancellation, it’s not just going to end there," said Hill. "We have to actually get at the root cause of the issue, which is college affordability."

She hopes to make that case for students when she pursues a career in law after graduation.