Affordable Higher Education News

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2009 – A University of Maryland senior joined senators and community leaders at a rally in the U.S. Senate office building today to support of the FY2010 Democratic Budget.

Deemed a top priority by President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders, the budget proposes a significant boost to the Pell grant, the nation’s premier student aid program that currently serves close to seven million students to help them pay for college.

“Our country needs us to get educated. The problems of the 21st century require solutions that my generation is getting trained to deal with in college,” said Kim, chair of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) student chapter at The University of Maryland.

"The budget plan being put forth by President Obama, Senate Leader Reid, and the House is crucial. It reinvests billions of dollars in student aid so we can have higher Pell grants and less loan debt,” Kim added.

When Kim announced that she planned to be a community organizer after graduating, the room – packed with journalists and with members of organizations that support the Obama budget – burst into cheers.

But the clapping died down when Kim mentioned her student loan debt.

“The vast majority of college students across the country now graduate with enough loan debt that we are being squeezed out of careers,” Kim said.

Four senators, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), also spoke at the rally.

“When it comes to the future, it starts in the classroom,” said Durbin, who is the Senate Majority Whip and a champion of the Obama budget.

Durbin decried the fact that student’s graduate with “a diploma and a student debt that they can’t deal with” and called for people across the country to let their representatives know that they want the budget passed.

“We need your help,” Durbin said. “This is our moment. Let’s not miss it.”

Both the House and the Senate are slated to vote on the budget later this week.

The rally was organized by the Campaign to Rebuild and Renew America Now! coalition, which includes over 100 grassroots and non-profit groups, including U.S. PIRG. The coalition’s goal is to make sure the president's budget passes Congress with all of its public interest priorities intact. Across the country, the PIRGs have launched a coordinated campaign, hosting large events, organizing call-in days, and reaching out to the media to make sure Congress does not miss this historic opportunity.

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University of Maryland student Lauren Kim speaks to a packed room of budget supporters at the U.S. Senate office building in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2009. (Photo: Eric Reeves/U.S. PIRG)

University of Maryland student Lauren Kim, right, shaking hands with Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), center, as Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, left, and other members of the coalition look on during a rally at the U.S. Senate office building in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2009. (Photo: Eric Reeves/U.S. PIRG)