What: Rally to support the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Bill. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group , U.S. Student Association and Campus Progress, will join together with Congressman George Miller, (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Workforce committee, and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, at a press conference to rally support for HR 3221.
When and where: TUESDAY, September 15, 2009 - 1:15 pm at the House Triangle in Washington, DC
Visuals: Scores of students and student advocates at the house triangle rallying to support student aid bill.
(In addition, on Wednesday, students on campuses across the country will build a symbolic wall of student loan debt, brick by brick, asking members of Congress in Washington, DC to increase student aid. For locations, contact Christine Lindstrom of USPIRG at chris.lindstrom@pirg.org; 617-747-4330.)
Details: Washington, September 14 - On Tuesday, U.S. PIRG will join House Education and Workforce Chair Congressman George Miller, (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Workforce committee, and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, to rally in anticipation of the passage of HR 3221, the massive student aid bill pending in the House currently.
HR 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, is the largest investment in student aid in history. It diverts $40 billion dollars away from banks that participate in student lending and toward students in the form of a steadily increasing Pell Grant. Increasing grant aid will lower student reliance on loans to pay for college. The number of students graduating with over $25,000 in loan debt has increased five fold in the past twelve years.
Also on Tuesday, U.S. PIRG is coordinating with the Congressman to host a telephone-press conference call specifically for college journalists to outreach to college students, who have largely missed the debate as it unfolded this summer.
On Wednesday, student volunteers through student chapters of PIRG are building “Walls of Debt” on 25 campuses across the country to symbolize the obstacle graduates face when they graduate with heavy loan debt burden. In cyberspace, U.S. PIRG together with the United States Student Association and Campus Progress are emailing over 100,000 young adults to ask them to sign onto the virtual “Wall of Debt.”
U.S. PIRG also 50 Facebook pages for each state that together have over 40,000 members. They anticipate at least 10,000 students from across the country to join in the action.
For more information on Affordable Higher Education, visit http://www.uspirg.org/higher-education
