Student Loans
College costs are growing rapidly and financial aid hasn’t kept up. Close to 70 percent of undergrads graduate with debt. In 2009, the average student borrower owed $27,600. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) of 2010 ensures that all federally funded student loans will be directed through the federal government’s Direct Loan Program (DLP,) saving $61 billion and using that money to fund increased Pell Grant funding. SAFRA abolished the Federal Education Loan Program (FFELP), which used subsidized loan companies to provide student loans.
Cry Wolf Quotes
We’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the community. At a time when jobs are so scarce here and around the country, we hope that this petition delivers 31,000 more reasons to support student loan reform that will make college more affordable and protect jobs here in Wilkes-Barre.
The furor over President Obama's trillion-dollar restructuring of American health care has left his other trillion-dollar plan starved for attention. That's how much the federal balance sheet will expand over the next decade if Mr. Obama can convince Congress to approve his pending takeover of the student-loan market.
Finally, the government should disclose that getting your student loan will become about as enjoyable as going to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, however, would require all federal student loans to be originated by the federal government, jeopardizing hundreds of private sector jobs in Wilkes-Barre and hampering related economic development in the state. Sallie Mae currently contributes more than $40 million annually to the local economy and has contributed millions to local charities.
Related Laws and Rules
Evidence
-
5 Myths About Student Loan Reform
Campus Progress: Almost all of the student loan industry's warning about SAFRA were wrong.
-
Are Student Loan Companies Playing Politics With People’s Jobs
The definitive refutation of “job killer” cry wolf claims regarding SAFRA.
Resources
Campus Progress is the youth wing of the Center for American Progress. They do work in both advocacy and journalism.
Higher Education Watch is the New America Foundation's blog about the politics and policy of higher education.
