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9/7/2007
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Today the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act by votes of 79 to 12 and 292 to 97 respectively. The bill now goes to the President who has said he will sign the legislation into law. |
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9/26/2006
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According to a new report released late Friday by the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Education, private lender Nelnet Inc. abused a student loan loophole to generate $1.2 billion in illegitimate government payments. Through the “9.5% loophole” the company has already been paid $278 million in excess subsidies and stands to receive $882 more unless the Department steps in. The IG report calls on the Department to stop the payments and repay the outstanding $278 million. |
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9/20/2005
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The House of Representatives will vote today to extend the Higher Education Act for three months. The extension will ensure the student loan programs continue while Congress debates budget reconciliation and higher education reauthorization. |
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9/14/2004
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By a vote of 15 to 14, the Senate Appropriations Committee today failed to pass an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill to end a taxpayer rip-off and direct the savings to struggling college students. The amendment, introduced by Senator Murray (WA), would have saved taxpayers $290 million in excessive lender profit on student loans, and redirected it to nearly one million college students.
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8/9/2006
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Statement of Luke Swarthout, Higher Education Associate |
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8/8/2006
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On August 3rd, the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education released the third draft of its report. Buried at the bottom of page 19 was a new and disturbing proposal to eliminate "non need-based" student loans. The paragraph suggests that 75% of federal student loans should be shifted to the private market. This would dump millions of students into loans that can be far more expensive and risky than federal loans. |
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8/27/2004
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A report released today by The Institute for College Access and Success, entitled "Money for Nothing" details how lenders have more than a billion dollars in profit through a loophole that Congress intended to close in 1993. More than ten years later some banks are increasingly using a small provision in the law to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars a year in excess government subsidies.
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7/5/2005
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To celebrate the historically low interest rate for student loan consolidation and to call on Congress to keep the fixed rate option, student and consumer organizations joined by Congressman George Miller hosted a 'Graduation Party for Student Borrowers' on Capitol Hill today. |
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7/5/2005
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To celebrate the historically low interest rate for student loan consolidation and to call on Congress to keep the fixed rate option, student and consumer organizations joined by Congressman George Miller hosted a 'Graduation Party for Student Borrowers' on Capitol Hill today. |
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7/3/2007
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Despite heavy opposition from the major textbook publishers, the College Textbook Affordability Act, SB 832 (Corbett), sponsored by CALPIRG, passed out of the Assembly Higher Education Committee on a 6-1 vote and now heads to the Assembly Floor. |
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7/18/2007
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The Nelson-Burr Amendment cuts $4.2 billion from need-based aid to low-income students over the next five years and gives the bulk of it to for-profit student lenders. |
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7/11/2007
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The US House of Representatives today passed the "College Cost Reduction Act of 2007" (HR 2669) by a vote of 273-149. The bill will substantially increase the purchasing power of the Pell Grant, the nation's premiere need based grant program which benefits millions of low income students, increasing the maximum grant amount by $100 for five years beginning in 2008-9. It will make student loan debt more affordable by cutting the interest rate on student loans in half, to 3.4 percent, by 2012, and by capping loan repayment amounts to a reasonable percentage of a graduate's income. |
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6/24/2005
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In a bipartisan vote last Friday, the House voted to permanently close a student loan loophole that has cost the federal government and taxpayers billions of dollars in recent years. |
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6/20/2007
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Today the Senate HELP Committee will take up legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 and reform the student aid programs. The two bills to be considered will increase funding for need-based grant aid and help millions of student borrowers manageably repay their college loans. |
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6/13/2005
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Testimony of Kate Rube, State Public Interest Research Groups' Higher Education Project and Ajita Talwalker, U.S. Student Association |
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6/12/2007
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A national coalition of organizations including the United States Student Association, U.S. PIRG, the AFL-CIO and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities today sent a letter to all members of Congress urging them to address critical priorities in American higher education. |
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6/12/2007
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Statement of U.S. PIRG Higher Education Advocate Luke Swarthout |
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5/6/2004
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Several consumer and student groups criticized legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and others on the House Education and Workforce Committee because it could more than double the interest paid on student loans. |
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5/5/2005
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College students could receive nearly $3 billion in additional student aid next year from the federal government without costing taxpayers a dime, according to "Easy Money: How Congress Could Increase Federal Student Aid Funding at No Additional Cost to Taxpayers," a report released today by the State Public Interest Research Groups' Higher Education Project, the U.S. Student Association, and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. |
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5/17/2007
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Letter of support to Congress regarding the budget increase for Higher Education. This budget provides a meaningful increase in funding for education programs and paves the way for larger pro-student reform. |
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5/16/2007
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Statement of U.S. PIRG Higher Education Advocate Luke Swarthout.
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4/30/2007
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Luke Swarthout, Higher Education Advocate for U.S. PIRG, testifies before the Subcommittee on Higher Education regarding the challenges high school students face when applying to college. |
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4/15/2004
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"At a time in which state budget cuts and escalating college tuitions are threatening to place an affordable college education out of reach for thousands, the federal government has proposed a budget that puts up even greater hurdles for students by freezing funding for federal student aid," said Kate Rube, associate with the State Public Interest Research Groups' Higher Education Project, criticizing the federal FY05 budget. In response to inadequate funding levels for student aid, the State PIRGs launched www.StudentAidAction.com, a web site designed to increase grassroots support for federal student aid programs. |
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3/7/2007
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In a letter released today, Chairman Miller and other members of the House Education and Labor Committee call on the Department of Education to tighten oversight of private student lenders who have recently been accused of bilking the government out of billions of dollars in excessive payments. |
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3/30/2006
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This afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 221 to 199 to approve H.R. 609, legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The bill includes a number of provisions that affect students but does little to make college more accessible or affordable. |
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3/20/2007
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3/17/2004
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Several consumer and student groups today criticized Sallie Mae and other large financial institutions for lobbying Congress to change the federal education loan programs so student borrowers could no longer lock in a fixed interest rate when they consolidate their student loan debt, a move that would increase profits for lenders, but increase the amounts in loan interest paid by student borrowers. |
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3/16/2006
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Statement of Luke Swarthout, Higher Education Associate |
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3/14/2006
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Statement of Luke Swarthout, Higher Education Associate |
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2/7/2005
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Statement of Luke Swarthout, Higher Education Associate |
