NYT Editorial Spports the Switch to Direct Student Lending
To read the piece, click here.
Obama's FY 2011 Budget Invests in College Access and Affordability
President Obama's FY 2011 Budget reasserts his commitment to making college affordable, increasing education spending by 7.5%. A week before the budget was released, the President urged the Senate to pass their own version of H.R. 3221--the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. Obama's budget maintains this same priority, dedicating funding to Pell Grants, eliminating the Family Federal Education Lending program in favor of direct lending, and decreasing federal student loan repayment from 15% to 10% of an individual's income.
Pushing for Legislation that Invests in Students, Workers, and Families
The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which recently passed the House, is facing pressure from big banks as it continues through to the Senate. As an important piece of legislation designed to increase investments in education, our coalition has been coordinating support, lobbying, and media efforts to aid this bill through Congress.
At a time when our country is in great need of investment in education, these reforms will aid students, parents and workers through crucial innovations:
- Strengthening Pell grants
- Supporting the Perkins loan program
- Investing in Community Colleges and worker retraining programs
- Switching to direct federal lending to end costly subsidies and save $87 billion dollars to be invested into education and a fiscally responsible future
- Providing new major support for minority serving institutions
- Simplifying the FAFSA form
- Investing in early childhood education
Click here for Myths vs. Facts on SAFRA from the Committee on Education and Labor.
Report Demonstrates Need for Worker Training to Fill Job Gap
The Institute for America's Future and the National Skills Coalition recently released a report entitled, “Worker Training: A Bridge to the New Economy.”
Bob Brandon, who coordinates the Campaign for College Affordability, released this statement in response to the report:
"Young people need training, low-skilled workers need new skills and many laid-off workers need retraining in order to get good jobs and to compete in the global economy. The Administration included a $4 billion boost in Labor Department training programs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the President has proposed a $12 billion investment in community colleges to modernize skills training. Congress should embrace the investment in community colleges contained in the House-passed Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, vote to extend the temporary training programs from the fiscal stimulus package and reauthorize and strengthen the Workforce Investment Act."
Visit this page for state-by-state reports.
