Student Debt

News Release | Higher Ed, Student Debt, Textbooks

Student Government Leaders Unite in Call for Federal Open Textbook Grant Program

Student government leaders of the undersigned colleges and universities write to Congress on the urgent need to address the skyrocketing price of textbooks, and a request to create a national open textbook pilot grants program in the FY18 appropriations bill.

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Media Hit | Higher Ed, Student Debt, Textbooks

How students are engaging textbook companies in a duel against high prices, and winning

Before entering the classroom of an intro-level economics course, students get a real-life experience with the subject — the required textbook costs $290 on Amazon.

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News Release | Higher Ed, Student Debt

STUDENTS CALL FOR SENATE TO REJECT STUDENT LOAN DEAL

Today, college students spoke out to urge Senators to reject the pending student loan deal, which may come up for a vote in the Senate as early as this afternoon.

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Victory for Students.

Monday, July 2, 2012

We did it.

Over 7 million students will save an average of $1,000 in loan repayments, helping us become the next generation of teachers, doctors, and innovators.

Debit Cards on Campus

Given the history of shady dealings between banks and colleges, Congress needs to take a hard look at the increasingly common practice of schools contracting with banks to disburse financial aiddollars to students.

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News Release | Student PIRGs | Consumer Protection, Higher Ed, Student Debt

Banks Skim Millions in Fees from Student Aid Using Debit-Card-Linked Student IDs

Washington, D.C. – Over 9 million students are at risk for increased educational debt, due to bank-affiliated student debit cards that come with high fees, insufficient consumer protections, and few options. Financial institutions now have affinity partnerships with almost 900 campuses nationwide, grafting bank products onto student IDs and other campus cards to become the primary recipient of billions in federal financial aid to distribute to students.

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Report | Consumer Protection, Higher Ed, Student Debt

The Campus Debit Card Trap

Banks and other financial firms are taking advantage of a variety of opportunities to form partnerships with colleges and universities to produce campus student ID cards and to offer student aid disbursements on debit or prepaid cards. In addition to on-campus services, such as student ID functions offered on the card, some cards offer traditional debit card services linked to bank accounts; other cards provide additional reloadable prepaid card functions. The disbursement of financial aid and university refunds is the most significant partnership identified.