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2005-07-05
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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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2005-06-24
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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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2005-06-13
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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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2005-05-05
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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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2005-02-07
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Statement of Luke Swarthout, Higher Education Associate |
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2005-02-01
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College textbook prices have increased at nearly four times the rate of inflation for all finished goods since 1994 and textbook publishers engage in practices that artificially inflate textbook costs, according to a new study by the state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs). |
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2005-01-14
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On Thursday, President Bush proposed changes to the Pell Grant program that would increase the maximum Pell award by 2.5 percent a year for the next five years, a move that student advocates criticized for failing to even keep pace with inflation. |
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2004-11-23
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Last-minute changes to the federal spending bill approved by Congress this weekend will cause 90,000 low-income students to lose their Pell Grant eligibility this upcoming year. More than 1 million other students face reductions in their Pell Grant awards under this change. |
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2004-10-04
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Acting in response to recent criticism over a student lender loophole that costs taxpayers nearly one billion dollars a year, the House voted yesterday on measures to address the loophole that higher education advocates said fell far short of stopping the taxpayer rip-off. The Senate is expected to pass the bill later today. |
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2004-09-14
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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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2004-08-27
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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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2004-05-06
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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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2004-04-15
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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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2004-03-17
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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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2004-01-29
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College students pay an average of nearly $900 per year for textbooks and publishers engage in market practices that drive up the price, according to "Rip-off 101," a report released today by the state PIRGs' Higher Education Project. |
