WE ARE OPPOSED TO THE NEW STUDENT LOAN LEGISLATION AND YOU SHOULD BE TOO!

The government is taking money out of YOUR POCKET, AGAIN.

Call and E-mail Your Senator and Sign Our Petition.

The American Council on Education held its 89th annual meeting on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007 and focuses on “The Access Imperative.”

The council found that the main reason that low-income students did not have the same access to universities as middle-income students was due to a lack of preparedness and social and cultural barriers. These are issues that need to be dealt with in K-12, before students are getting ready to enter college, and it is counter-intuitive to think that interest rate cutes (especially ones that help so few students) will help low-income students get to college easier!

Consumer Guide Also Hurt Low-Income Families
The council also discovered that because some colleges place such a high priority on ranking in consumer publications such as U.S. News & World Report that they limit access to low-income students because they are allowing these guides to set the criteria of “top school” not true education initiatives.

Check out this quote from an article written by Richard Byrne from “The Chronicle of Higher Education:”

Some of the practical fallout of the pursuit of prestige has been reflected in a lessening of flagship universities’ commitment to low-income and minority students, said Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust. Her group, an independent research and advocacy organization, released a report in late 2006 that ranked top state universities’ commitment to such access issues and found many of them wanting (The Chronicle, November 21, 2006). Those rankings suggest that ‘most flagship universities have walked away from low-income kids and kids of color,’ Ms. Haycock said on Sunday.

New Student Loan Legislation Does Not Solve Low-Income Students’ Problems
The proposed student loan legislation sounds great but it doe not address the socio-political issues surround access to college for low-income students. In fact, this bill will most likely make it HARDER for MIDDLE CLASS students to access college as well, because the will loose thousands of dollars in student loan incentives, with what is essentially a Student Loan Tax. Also, FFELP Lenders work with students and families to resolve credit issues to ensure that they can get much needed Stafford and PLUS loans.

The College Student Relief Act of 2007 is a sound-bite that doesn’t increase access to college for low-income families and it sure DOES cost taxpayers, especially students.

PROTECT STUDENT LOANS and YOUR FREEDOM OF CHOICE!

Call and E-mail Your Senator and Sign Our Petition.