What's New

In March 2010, a new law called the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act went into effect, which invests $36 billion in financial aid by ending sweetheart deals to big banks and loan companies. Students across the country contributed to the call for reform of our federal student loan programs. Students educated their peers with an event called “Take A Swing at Sallie Mae” to highlight the excessive subsidies that banks and lenders received for making loans, while students plunged into deep debt. Student PIRG research also helped document the need for reform.

Overview

The Student PIRGs envision a world in which qualified students who want to go to college can do so, without burdensome student loan debt to hold them back after graduation.  In the new debt-for-diploma era, more needs to be done to for students who borrow to pay for college.

In the new debt-for-diploma era, more needs to be done to for students who borrow to pay for college.  Student borrowers and their parents are confronted with confusion around the federal aid programs, misleading information surrounding private loan options, and little recourse and support in the event they experience problems in repayment.  To keep college affordable and accessible, we must strive for stronger borrower safeguards.

Student Debt Alert is sounding the alarm about the risks involved with student loans by:

1) Exposing problems by sending Student Debt Yearbooks to decision makers on campus, statewide, and federally, and researching problems associated with the lack of borrower safeguards; and

2) Providing a service to borrowers, students and parents through outreach on campuses across the country to educate them about savvy student borrowing, and hosting an on-line forum for those seeking feedback and to ask questions.