The battle to make college more affordable has come down to a critical few weeks in the Senate. The banks and student loan companies already have spent millions of dollars on lobbying, PR firms, and advertisements in their attempt to stop reform and hang on to $87 billion in subsidies that could be going to help students.
Now Campus Progress is taking action. We’ve raised money to put this :30 second spot on cable TV and on Hulu in key states across the country:
We don’t have the kind of money student loan companies have, so we’re going to need your help spreading the ad on Facebook, Twitter, and email if we’re going to get the word out. Click here to help us spread the word.
In an op-ed published in today’s Inside Higher Ed, CP’s Pedro de la Torre and USSA’s President Carmen Berkley advocate on behalf of students over banks, arguing that “Our country faces too many challenges for us to be providing pointless corporate welfare to loan companies.”
Here is an excerpt:
“The president’s plan will save taxpayers $94 billion over 10 years by ending pointless subsidies to loan companies and using government funds to lend directly to students. Because loan repayment is guaranteed by the federal government, private lenders assume very little risk under the FFELP and yet are rewarded handsomely — a subsidy that makes little economic sense. Much of the savings from the move to direct lending would be used to increase the maximum Pell grant award to $5,550 for the 2010-11 school year, and make the Pell grant a mandatory government program guaranteed an increase — inflation plus 1 percent — every year.
There are other important reasons to make the change. For one, the FFELP program is prone to corruption. A 2006 audit of the student lender Nelnet by the U.S. Department of Education’s inspector general revealed that the company had received more than $1 billion in taxpayer subsidies by gaming the system. Another investigation in 2007 led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found that lenders were lavishing gifts, payments, and other inducements on college financial aid officers in order to encourage them to recommend their loans to unwitting students.”
Congress may be on recess, but it’s time for us to work! Members of Congress are now home in their districts from April 6 – April 19. The final budget will be decided, once and for all, after Congress returns from recess. Conservatives in the House and Senate are claiming they want to cut vital investments in the budget to reduce the burden on our generation. We can’t let them speak for us.
The April Recess is your chance to speak up and tell Congress face-to-face that our generation wants – and needs – a progressive budget! Across the country, people just like you are hosting local events with Congress.Click here to find out more.
Campus Progress created a Congressional Recess Toolkit for guidelines on how to structure a lobby meeting or town hall with your Reps and Senators while they are home on recess (April 6-19). The toolkit includes talking points, follow up tips and details on planning and holding successful lobby meetings and town halls. Check it out and be your own progressive budget lobbyist!
Can’t plan a lobby visit or event on your own? Attend an event that’s already happening near you! Click here to find events.
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.
Congress may be on recess, but it’s time for us to work! Members of Congress are now home in their districts from April 6 – April 19. The final budget will be decided, once and for all, after Congress returns from recess. Conservatives in the House and Senate are claiming they want to cut vital investments in the budget to reduce the burden on our generation. We can’t let them speak for us.