Stop the Raid on Student Aid

From Steve Blackledge
CALPIRG Legislative Director
SteveB@calpirg.org

>Average student debt levels have more than doubled in the last
>decade and more students and their families are finding themselves
>buried under the burden of student loan debt.
>
>Last year, even as interest rates on loans skyrocketed, Congress cut
>the student loan program by $12 billion dollars. While students
>struggle with increasing debt, the private lenders are making huge
>profits and receiving billions of dollars in subsidies from the
>federal government.
>
>Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has committed to cutting student
>loan interest rates in half within the first 100 hours of the new
>Congress as it convenes in early January, but will need the support
>of the rest of Congress.
>
>Please tell your representative to put real student aid above
>subsidies to corporate lenders. Then ask your friends and family to
>help out too by forwarding this email to them.
>
>To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser:
>http://calpirg.org/CA.asp?id=1824&id4=ES
>
>
Background
>
>A college degree is becoming a necessity in today's world, and
>students are doing whatever it takes to pay for college, including
>taking on more and more debt. Average student debt levels have more
>than doubled in the last decade, and nearly two-thirds of all
>four-year college graduates now have student loans.
>
>Last year, Congress cut the student loan program by $12 billion
>dollars, money that could have gone to lowering interest rates or
>making college more affordable. As college costs continue to swell,
>more students have to borrow to pay for their degree. A full 39% of
>student borrowers graduate with unmanageable levels of federal
>student loan debt.
>
>As more students take out larger loans, private student lenders have
>worked to increase their subsidies at the expense of students and
>taxpayers. Lenders like Sallie Mae capitalize on excessive federal
>subsidies and oppose loan reforms that could help students.
>
>We need our leaders to do more to help. Congress and the Bush
>Administration should take action to reduce the burden of student
>debt by reducing waste in the loan programs, by increasing grant aid
>and by cutting interest rates in half.
>
>Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has committed to cutting student
>loan interest rates in half within the first 100 hours of the new
>Congress as it convenes in early January, but will need the support
>of the rest of Congress.
>
>Please tell your representative to put real student aid above
>subsidies to corporate lenders. Then ask your friends and family to
>help out too by forwarding this email to them.
>
>To take action, click on this link or paste CALPIRG it into your web browser