The Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campus Program (let’s call them Campus FMF) and Change.org have teamed up on a new campaign to both expose Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC’s) on campus, and end federal funding for “fake clinics” and abstinence only programs.
A study by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the House of Representatives found that 87% of the clinics they examined provided false or misleading information about the health risks of abortions and the effectivness of contraceptives. Despite these issues, states will be able to channel millions in federal funds to CPC’s under the Hatch amendment, which was slipped into the health care bill.
Everyone can take action online now. Students can get even more involved, however, by joining Campus FMF’s campaign. They have put together a great toolkit that can help you find and expose less than truthful clinics that are targeting students at your campus, and push for clear “truth in advertising” policies to protect your classmates.
By now, almost everyone has heard of the Credit CARD Act of 2009. This bill, which just went into effect, finally created some basic consumer protections for credit card borrowers. While these companies are doing their best to find new and creative ways to stick it to their customers, the bill stopped some of the worst abuses, and made sure that credit card companies could no longer treat college students, whom they courted aggressively, differently from the rest of the population.
There is a provision in the bill that many people have not heard about, however, and it could be a real help to student journalists, student government, and anyone else who is trying to make sure that colleges, credit card companies, and alumni associations are not taking advantage of students. This provision, championed by Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Murphy, requires schools to disclose agreements that they have with credit card companies allowing them to market to students. It also allows any individual to request this information. (more…)
Today, students across the country are taking action as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Education. You can read more about it and find local actions here, read Campus Progress’s statement here, and take action here.
The latest updates:
The national day of action to defend public education kicked off this morning with a blockade of the entrances to the University of California at Santa Cruz. Approximately 400 students are blocking the entrances to the school, infuriating commuters. As one car tried to tag along behind a police car to get through the crowd the driver has “run over” 4 students ending in at least one broken leg.
-Via @occupyca on Twitter
Students protesting at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, demanding free education for poor citizens, were dispersed by the police when they were sprayed with water hoses.
-Via iafrica.com
To get students excited about action all over the UC system today a prominent building at UC Riverside has been “decorated” with an encouraging banner.
-Via Occupy California
Tomorrow, students from around the country will be taking action against budget cuts to education, and all of the tuition hikes, enrollment caps, cuts to statestudentaid, lay-offs, wage cuts, furloughs, and other problems that they have caused. Here at Campus Progress, we hope that college administrations, state governments, and Congress are paying close attention: students are hurting, angry, and organized. You can see if there are actions planned in your area here.
There are already some great ways to follow this mobilization (for example, http://studentactivism.net/ has a great maps and a great blog), but I wanted to add two more options (below). We will also be posting some updates on this site tomorrow.
Ben Miller at the Education Sector has a great post up today explaining how student loan giant Sallie Mae has inserted itself (with help from a corrupt Bush administration official) into virtually every nook and cranny of the federal student loan system. The result is that they can squeeze money from taxpayers regardless of whether the loan is paid or put into default.
Basically, there are three different kinds of private actors involved in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP – the larger and more expensive of two federal student loan programs):
Lenders: These organizations raise and lend money to students. The government gives them subsidies and promises to pay 97% of the loan if it goes into default.
Guaranty Agencies: These organizations administer the guarantee against default for lenders, and prevent default on federal student loans. They are also paid by the government to do collections or rehabilitations on defaulted loans, which, as many have pointed out, is a conflict of interest. They typically contract this work to a…
Collections Agencies: These firms are contracted by guarunty agencies to track down borrowers in default, and collect as much of the outstanding debt as possible.
We disagree. No paranoid rhetoric about indocrination can hide the facts (via the Wonk Room):
Conservative projections on the real fiscal rate of return on public educational investments are high:10% for high quality preschool programs, 15% for innovative K-12 reforms like First Things First, and 10.3% for investments to encourage college access and graduation.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Other research has shown that increasing education levels means less incarceration, higher wages, less unemployment, and even longer life spans. Hopefully, lawmakers and the public will remember the following words of wisdom from Derek Bok, a former president of Harvard University:
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
Last night, Jon Stewart chatted about student loan reform with Austan Goolsbee, an economist and member of the Council of Economic Advisers. The college affordability action starts at 4:38, check it out:
Yesterday, President Obama answered a few of the 11,000 questions submitted on YouTube as part of its State of the Union Q&A. The first question on education (around 17:00) was about college affordability, and Obama again expressed his support for legislation that would cut subsidies to student loan companies, and invest the savings into Pell grants and other education initiatives. Check it out:
State budget cuts can lead to tuition hikes, cuts in enrollment, shortfalls for state financial aid programs, layoffs, larger class sizes or fewer offered courses, and more. If there was ever a time for a large federal investment in higher education, it’s now.
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
By now, almost everyone has heard of the 
Conservative projections on the real fiscal rate of return on public educational investments are high: