Students, Parents Call on Congress
to Make College Affordable
Unique Events Attract Thousands to National Day of Action
College students today called on Congress to cut student loan interest rates as a first step to making college more affordable. At a Capitol Hill news conference students offered their personal stories and support of the bill and a further agenda to reduce the rising cost of higher education and the impact of rising student debt.
“Paying for college is a major concern for millions of American students and their families,” explained Jennifer Pae of the United States Student Association. “We need Congress to take concrete steps to make college affordable by lowering the burden of student debt, increasing Pell Grant funding and cutting excessive subsidies to private lenders.”
The proposed legislation, which would cut interest rates in half for subsidized Stafford loans, offers important relief for middle class families. The average borrower would save $4,420 dollars in college loan payments. Seventy-five percent of students with subsidized Stafford loans come from families that have an income of $67,000 or less.
“Over the last two elections we’ve seen huge increases in young voter turnout,” said Andrew Bossie, a student at the University of Southern Maine. “The concerns of young people and their families have helped put access to higher education on the national agenda. Now the Congress needs to make college more affordable.”
Representative George Miller of California and Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, chairmen of the House and Senate Education Committees appeared at the press conference offering their support for cutting interest rates on student loans and outlined their broader initiatives for making college more affordable for American families, including raising the maximum Pell grant and making student loans more affordable and debt more manageable.
Senator Richard Durbin announced that he was introducing companion legislation in the Senate to H.R. 5 to cut interest rates in half on subsidized Stafford loans.
At the press conference, participants noted that tuition has risen 40 percent in the last 5 years and that the average student graduates with an estimated $23,000 in total student loan debt. The average student debt burden in 2004 was almost 60 percent higher than the mid-1990’s. Each year, this translates into 400,000 qualified students enrolling in community colleges rather than four-year institutions, and 200,000 qualified students not enrolling in any higher education institution.
The event was hosted by the Campaign for College Affordability, which includes Rock the Vote, the United States Student Association, the League of Young Voters Education Fund, the NAACP, Campaign for America’s Future, Campus Progress at the Center for American Progress, the American Medical Students Association, the National Education Association, PIRG’s Higher Education Project, AFSCME, SEIU, Mobilize America’s Youth, and the Young Democrats of America. This coalition is coordinating a national advocacy campaign under the banner of “Opportunity for All: Make College Affordable.” In addition to supporting the current proposed legislation to cut interest rates for subsidized Stafford student loans in half, the coalition is rallying grassroots support for a broader agenda to increase college access and affordability. It includes:
- Increasing need-based grant aid by raising the maximum Pell Grant award to $5100.
- Making student loans more affordable by lowering interest rates, limiting the percentage of income students spend repaying loans, expanding loan forgiveness programs for critical public service careers and reinstating the refinancing of existing loans.
- Cutting waste in the student loan programs by passing the Student Aid Reward Act to give money to students and parents, not banks.
“Higher Education is the ticket to good jobs and a good future,” added Anthony Daniels, an Education student and NEA student chair, “and it’s a ticket that most Americans can’t afford. Next week we can celebrate Dr. King’s birthday, remembering that by making college affordable, we create opportunities for all.”
Medical Student Jay Bhatt added, “I want to spend my medical career helping the most vulnerable in our society. With my debt from undergraduate and medical school, I’m not sure that can happen.”
Across the country, thousands of other students participated in local College Affordability Day of Action events.
- Facebook and MySpace organizing has allowed tens of thousands of young people to share their stories about student debt, voice their support for college affordability, and organize via their social networks. The Facebook group “1-11-07: National Day to Make College Affordable” started last week has over 25,000 members to date.
- Other students participated in campus events such as tabling to inform other students about the issue, organized “call-ins” to members of Congress.
- Campus Progress, Young Democrats of America and the League of Young Voters are organizing text-messaging campaigns urging members and friends to contact Congress.
- Dozens of organizations are conducting letter and email lobby campaigns to Congress.
- Released reports prepared by the PIRG Higher Education Project documenting the average savings from the interest cuts in 40 communities around the country.
“Student debt impacts the life choices of far too many people in immeasurable ways,” said Paul Perry, a student from American University. Recent studies have shown that student loan debt caused 30 percent of young graduates to delay buying a car; 21 percent to postpone having children, and 38 percent to hold off on buying a home. Student loan debt burdens have caused 27 percent of new graduates to delay a medical or dental procedure and 42 percent say that they live ‘paycheck-to-paycheck.’
The November, 2006 election saw one of the highest youth vote turnouts ever. One pre-election survey showed fully three quarters of respondents indicating that a candidate’s position on college affordability would be important in determining their vote.
At the Washington, DC event, the speakers were joined by fifty student leaders from around the country to lobby members of the House to pass immediate legislation to cut interest rates in half on subsidized Stafford loans.
