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Standing Up To Powerful Interests

Student Debt

 

What's New

On Thursday, September 27th, President Bush signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act into law. The legislation addresses the dual financial challenges of access and affordability that face American college students.

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act provides billions of dollars a year in additional grant aid to low-income students through the Pell Grant program. It will also help students address the burden of rising student debt by allowing borrowers to repay their loans according to their income.

How You Can Help

More Aid Means Less Debt

This legislation means thousands of dollars in additional grants for low and middle-income students, lower interest rates and better terms for borrowers with mountains of debt.  Despite the tremendous political clout of the student lending industry, Congress made the right choice and voted to help struggling students and families.

Thank your member of Congress.  We will need higher education champions as we move into other key areas of student loan reform.  Members of Congress will be more likely to champion our concerns if they get positive feedback from consituents!  Please take a moment to drop a line to your lawmaker. Click here.



Overview

Higher education in America continues to be critical for both individual success and the economic and political health of our country. While college attendance has grown over the past two decades, state and federal aid has failed to keep pace with the rising cost of higher education. As a result, more students than ever must rely on student loans to pay for a four-year degree and start their post-collegiate lives with significant debt.

Over the past two decades undergraduate student loans have supplanted grant aid as the primary way students finance their college education. In 1999-2000, the average student loan debt for a full-time student at a four-year institution was $16,928, up from $9,188 in 1992-93. An increased reliance on student loans has resulted in a growing number of debt-ridden graduates entering the workforce. In 2004, two-thirds of all four-year college graduates left school with student debt. Student loan debt can limit post-collegiate career options like teaching and social work. In the most extreme cases, burdensome debt can lead some students to default, resulting in wage garnishment and ruined credit.

In February of 2006, Congress passed the largest cut to higher education in the history of federal student aid. This “raid on student aid” took approximately $12 billion out of the federal student loan programs to help finance additional tax cuts for some of the wealthiest Americans.

This year Congress has taken first steps to make college more affordable by passing legislation in the House to reduce student loan interest rates for low- and middle-income students.

WashPIRG is working to ensure that all students have access to an affordable education and that Congress prioritizes college affordability this year.

Students from across the country meet with Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), chair of the Health and Education committee, following his committee's vote, 17 - 3, in support of the Higher Education Act of 2007.

 

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