Weekly Address: A Student Aid Bill of Rights
Last edited Sat Mar 14, 2015, 12:10 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: White House
In this weeks address, President Obama laid out his vision for quality, affordable higher education for all Americans.
Today, a college degree is the surest ticket to the middle class and beyond, but it has also never been more expensive. Everyone, from elected officials to universities to business leaders, has a part to play in making college affordable for all students. The President has already made historic investments in college education affordability, and earlier this week, he announced a Student Aid Bill of Rights a set of guiding principles behind his vision for affordable education.
In his address the President urged everyone to visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/webform/college-opportunity and sign this declaration, because together we can ensure students who work hard for a college degree do not graduate saddled with debt.
Read more: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/weekly-address
Transcript
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/13/weekly-address-student-aid-bill-rights
(snip)
In an economy increasingly built on innovation, the most important skill you can sell is your knowledge. Thats why higher education is, more than ever, the surest ticket to the middle class.
But just when its never been more important, its also never been more expensive. The average undergrad who borrows to pay for college ends up graduating with about $28,000 in student loan debt.
Thats why my Administration has worked hard to make college more affordable. We expanded tax credits and Pell Grants, enacted the largest reform to student loan programs in history, and fought to keep interest rates on student loans low. Weve acted to let millions of graduates cap loan payments at 10 percent of their income, so they dont have to choose between paying the rent and paying back their debt. Ive sent Congress my plan to bring the cost of community college down to zero because two years of higher education should be as free and universal as high school is today.
But all of us elected officials, universities, business leaders everybody needs to do more to bring down college costs. Which is why this week, I unveiled another way that we can help more Americans afford college. It doesnt involve any new spending or bureaucracy. Its a simple declaration of values what I call a Student Aid Bill of Rights. It says that every student deserves access to a quality, affordable education. Every student should be able to access the resources to pay for college. Every borrower has the right to an affordable repayment plan. And every borrower has the right to quality customer service, reliable information, and fair treatment, even if they struggle to repay their loans.
Thats it. Just a few simple principles. But if we all rally around these principles, theres a lot that colleges, lenders, and the people you sent to Washington and to your state legislatures can do to realize them across the country.
So if you believe in a Student Aid Bill of Rights that will help more Americans pay for a quality education, Im asking you to visit WhiteHouse.gov/CollegeOpportunity. Sign your name to this declaration. Tell your families, and your friends, and fellow students. Im going to ask Members of Congress, and lenders, and as many business leaders as I can find. Because making sure that students arent saddled with debt before they even get started in life is in all our interests.
BumRushDaShow
(128,844 posts)Listened this morning on the radio and agreed with the narrative "two years of higher education should be as free and universal as high school is today". But then so many of us are battling in our own states to get funding restored for that "free" high school (and every other lower grade).
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)mountain grammy
(26,619 posts)I signed.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)groundloop
(11,518 posts)It's a sad fact that many of us fall in the crack between between being affluent enough to entirely pay for our children's education and being poor enough to qualify for enough federal student aid (grants and loans) to pay the entire cost. That leaves a huge gap that is, unfortunately, filled with private student loans. This is a snake-pit of a marketplace, interest rates are high, there is very little oversight of lenders, and in the case of financial hardship these loans can't be discharged through bankruptcy (meaning you truly could lose everything you own to these lenders).
When I went to college I was able to pay my own way with the exception of one federal student loan. My son is going to the same college I attended and it's costing roughly 10 times as much for him as for me. Unfortunately, wages haven't gone up anywhere close to ten-fold since I've been in college, so there's a huge gap between what my son can earn and what college is costing. I'm able to help out to some extent, but he's still going to be saddled with a bug chunk of student loan debt from private lenders.
If we can't make college affordable enough so that we don't need to go to private lenders then at least there needs to be laws limiting the interest that these lenders can charge and regulating their collection practices.
candelista
(1,986 posts)It should be, but he knows this will never pass Congress. Meanwhile, he wants to make some cosmetic adjustments in--guess what?--student loans. To replace them with free subsidized tuition would be bad for the banks, seeing as how student debt is now bigger than credit card debt. That's a lotta interest, and big profits!
Corey_Baker08
(2,157 posts)K&R