President Obama introduces program to reduce student debt
March 11, 2015
By Cheyene Miller
President Barack Obama took a step toward making college more affordable for students and their families by signing the new “Student Aid Bill of Rights” program on Tuesday.
“For those of you who are on spring break who are still on call, I’m impressed with your dedication,” said Obama in a nationwide conference call to representatives from college and university student newspapers.
The main feature of the “Student Aid Bill of Rights” is that it will require businesses that service student loans to provide information on how much the student owes, what their options are for repaying it, and provide reasonable fees and a timeline to help students get back on track if they fall behind on payments.
The program also requires the Department of Education to look for ways to help students with loan repayments, and is intended to create more access to customer service for acquiring and paying back student loans.
“Higher education is one of the best investments you can make in your future,” Obama said.
The Obama administration has created 12 million new jobs over the past 5 years, he said, bringing back a stronger middle class.
“A college degree is the surest ticket into that middle class,” said Obama, who said the average undergraduate college student will be looking at about $28,000 in student loan debt. “We’ve got to encourage higher education.”
Obama said he and his wife Michelle would not be where they are today had it not been for the grants and aid they received during their college years, and he wants to give this generation the same opportunity.
He also said that five years ago he enacted the “biggest student loan reform in history,” which included tax credit expansions and caps on how high interest rates on loans can rise.
“I sent Congress a bold new plan to bring the cost of community college to zero,” Obama said. The plan would give two free years of community college to students with at least a part-time status, have at least a 2.5 GPA are on path to a Bachelor’s degree.
“We’re continuing to chip away at this problem. There’s no silver bullet,” Obama said. “We can’t allow higher education to become a luxury. It’s an economic imperative that everyone should be able to afford.”