The national Occupy Wall Street movement and the Occupy University of Wisconsin movement have pledged to focused their attention on student loans, an issue Occupy members say is quickly enveloping millions of recent graduates nationwide.

Andrew Ross, a New York University professor and prominent member of the Occupy movement in his area, told Insider Higher Ed that some sectors of the movement will begin Monday, encouraging students across the country to stop repaying their student loans in the hope that if enough people pledge to participate, there will be too many resistors for banks to enforce a punishment.

According to Inside Higher Ed, the movement will solidify when one million people pledge to participate. Ross was not available for comment as of press time.

Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, a graduate student who is one of the Occupy UW movement’s leaders, said the movement has plans to host events and collaborate with other area schools to raise awareness about issues currently impacting students.

Of these issues, Wrigley-Field said student loans are one of the most pressing. The total amount of student loans nationwide is higher than the total amount of credit card debt, she said.

“The 1 percent has $22 trillion,” she said. “What that means is that our student loan debt is nothing to them, even though it’s everything to us.”

UW Young Progressives spokesperson Fiona Cahill said outstanding loans have a devastating effect on college graduates.

“[Student loans] keep many of us from saving for retirement and land purchases and encourage many of us to choose jobs based on salary rather than passion or interest,” she said in an email to The Badger Herald.

Still, Wrigley-Field said she worries that the movement’s plan to mount resistance against repaying loans is a dangerous one.

“My general take is that it’s hard to take actions that put specific individuals at a great deal of risk,” she said. “One strength that this movement has had in the past is being creative at finding ways that we have power in numbers.”

UW political science professor Barry Burden said participating in the campaign could have long-lasting consequences for students and recent graduates.

“This action does not seem useful,” he said. “Students can be punished for not paying student loans. They might be denied other federal benefits, including government jobs, or have their tax refunds withheld.”

Cahill said Occupy Wall Street is using other effective methods to address the growing student loan issue.

She said the movement’s greatest power concerning student loans comes in the form of raising awareness and pressuring elected officials to take the movement’s side.

Although the Occupy UW movement may not choose to align itself with this campaign, Wrigley-Field said the organization is still working for the rights of the 99 percent.

On Dec. 7, she said Occupy UW will host a teach-in and public awareness event on Bascom Hill.

At the event, students and campus workers will create a photo montage of themselves holding pieces of paper identifying them as part of the 99 percent and detailing their hopes for America’s future.

The event is designed to emulate a Tumblr project created by the national Occupy Wall Street movement, she added.

Wrigley-Field said Madison Area Technical College students are collaborating with UW students to demonstrate “what it means to be a student at a time when loans have exploded.”