Obama announces new ‘Student Aid Bill of Rights’
March 11, 2015
Tuesday, President Barack Obama announced a new policy regarding student loans and financial aid called the “Student Aid Bill of Rights.”
The President and several members of the Department of Education then held a conference call Wednesday with members of student media organizations across the country and talked about what the policy would do and how it would affect college students.
According to the White House official website, the policy is based on four main points:
1. Every student should have access to high-quality, affordable higher education.
2. Should be able to easily find the resources they need to pay for college
3. Should be able to choose an affordable repayment plan for student loans.
4. And should receive quality customer service, reliable information and fair treatment when repaying loans.
The President then went on to explain that the his administration will develop a state-of-the-art user database that will consolidate student loan information and allow easy access to both what students owe and what programs are available to help students pay off their loans.
The policy also plans to ensure “banks that service federal loans are held to high standards and provide better information to borrowers.”
Ted Mitchell, the undersecretary in the Department of Education, explained that banks involved in the student loan process will be reviewed based on how successful the banks are at keeping students on schedule with their repayment plans; how positively they were rated through student surveys and by how positively colleges grade the banks.
The changes proposed by this policy look to serve the greater goal of reducing student loan debt by making all available programs easier to find and understand.
“The pace is picking up significantly in getting the news out about these programs,” said Mitchell,“We’ve seen a 400% increase in participation in programs to help students pay back their loans.”
The policy is just the next step in fixing education-funding issues across the country.
Throughout his reign, President Obama has created programs that limit the amount students are required to pay per month, increased the number of Pell Grants available, given students in public work fields breaks and loan forgiveness options at the end of their loan payment plans and proposed free community college education.
“President Obama and I, among others, have worked hard and will continue to work hard to make college affordable,” said Mitchell
Sources:
-White House press conference phone call
