Becca Balint Addresses Students' Questions at VTSU
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- Created on Thursday, 29 October 2026 22:44
- Written by Asher Ballantine
Representative Becca Balint answered student concerns and questions surrounding this upcoming midterm election. Representative Becca Balint visited the VTSU Lyndon Campus on Wednesday for a ‘Student Town Hall’. She was scheduled to speak for an hour, answering questions students had. It was streamed across all VTSU campuses.
Upon her arrival, she spent some time speaking personally to students and faculty, getting to understand and know them.
She answered a lot of important questions that day, with students asking questions primarily around how they will succeed after school:
“So part of the work we have to do is education, saying it is not the same as it was 20 years ago or 40 years ago. I think that the dynamics within the economic system have changed. So the burden that you're hearing is much more acute. I see housing, reducing student loan debt, making sure there are more grants in federal programs related for you to get that education.”
She went from topic to topic with the students, discussing housing, accountability, and the important steps moving forward for Vermont.
“When we're spending $1 billion a day on war in Iran that most people in this country didn't want, we don't have that money then to make the investment in housing. So my promise to you is this will continue to be my number one issue until we get this housing crisis solved in Vermont.”
News7 got the chance to speak personally with Balint for a brief interview, touching on some other issues that were not discussed during the open forum.
We asked her to address the declining enrollment in higher education, and more importantly why it may be, Balint had this to say:
“I think it's a multifaceted issue. I think for some people it is an economic decision that they feel like they need to enter the workforce faster and not accrue debt. And I know from talking with Vermont families, sure, the worst scenario for some families is the child goes off to college, doesn't finish the degree, have debt, don't have the degree in the end. And so there is a practical, decision making that's happening around, targeted professional degrees or certifications.”
We also simply asked her what she believes is Vermont’s greatest challenge:
“Right now, in this moment, the One-Two punch of having some of the highest rates. And depending on what week it is, we have the highest rates of health care and, lack of housing. Those two things are crushing us economically. And it's it's very difficult to attract more people to the state.”