Belle Knox: Duke Porn Star Bringing Attention To Student Loan Crisis

Belle Knox has a new point to add to a resume that already includes Duke University student porn star — student loan critic.

In an essay for Time magazine, the porn star (whose real name is Miriam Weeks) attacked the rising cost of higher education. Knox noted that she lost her student aid at Duke thanks to her earnings from adult movies, putting her on the hook for $62,000 a year in tuition.

Knox admitted that she has considered dropping out of Duke after already sacrificing her reputation by turning to porn.

Belle Knox also warns about a looming crisis due to the ever-rising cost of going to college, writing:

“I’m hardly the only student who’s struggling with these sky-high bills. Experts predict a massive student loan default on the horizon, on par with the last major mortgage crisis. And, like the mortgage crisis, it’s likely the banks and lenders will be bailed out, while the students will be saddled with wage garnishments and ruined credit.

“Government must stop the flow of money to schools in order to get tuition rates under control again. That means being honest about the fact that not every child should go to college. Only 59% of full-time, first-time undergraduate students who began their pursuit of a bachelor’s degree at a 4-year degree-granting institution graduate in four years. That also means making students who can’t afford tuition out of pocket find funding in the private market, where lenders are too judicious to lend someone $150,000 to get a BA in underwater basketweaving.”

Belle Knox has some help in her bid to bring attention to the student loan crisis. President Obama just signed an executive order capping student loan repayments at 10 percent of a borrower’s monthly income. Senator Elizabeth Warren also tried to pass a measure that would have allowed more borrowers to lock in at lower rates, but it was defeated by Republicans who decried a tax increase on millionaires to pay for it.

Andrew Rossi, a documentary filmmaker who has written on the student loan crisis, notes that the problem is growing exponentially worse. Rossi, who recently directed a documentary called Ivory Tower that looks at student loans, wrote for the Boston Globe about the scope of the problem.

He wrote:

“The cost of college has risen by 1,120 percent since 1978, while state funding to public universities has declined by 40 percent in the same period. Caught in a competition for prestige to attract the student loan dollar — as a substitute for government support — many universities are fighting an arms race of amenities.”

Whatever the solution, something needs to be done to address the “sky high” cost of higher education, Duke porn star Belle Knox wrote.