ADVOCATING AID FOR STUDENTS — Higher Education Advocate Luke Swarthout stands with Sen. Bernie Saunders (Vt.) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (Mass.) after the Senate voted to increase student aid.

New Law Makes College
More Affordable

On September 18, PIRG students stood with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. George Miller (CA) and other members of Congress as they sent College Cost Reduction and Access Act to the President’s desk. The legislation is the most meaningful higher education reform in more than 15 years, and will make college accessible and affordable to more students.

The bill trims excessive subsidies that benefit a handful of banks and directs them to millions of students and families who are working to pay for college. The legislation 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 through lower interest rates and a new repayment system. President Bush has committed to signing the bill.

Coalition Spurs Action
The action came after PIRG was joined by the U.S. Student Association, the AFL-CIO and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in sending a letter urging Congress to address a set of higher education priorities:

• To increase need-based grant aid by raising the maximum Pell Grant award;

• To make student loans more affordable by lowering interest rates, limiting the percentage of income students spend repaying loans and expanding loan forgiveness programs for critical public service careers;

• To cut waste in the student loan programs by reducing taxpayer subsidies and redirecting those funds to increase student aid and limit debt burden; and

• To make student loans more fair by passing regulations that limit conflicts of interest, make the relationships between colleges and lenders more transparent, and require schools and lenders to inform students of their right to shop around for the best deal.

In June, several students from CALPIRG’s college chapters met up with dozens of other PIRG students from around the country in Washington D.C. There they joined Higher Education Advocate Luke Swarthout in lobbying members of Congress for the reforms.

“The legislation does more than simply protect students from excessively high loan payments,” explained Swarthout. “It fundamentally changes how we treat students who borrow for college. Rather than punishing them for helping to shoulder the burden of paying for their education, this bill will allow students to repay their loans without debt dictating their life choices.”