Earlier this year, Diane Brown, executive director of the consumer watchdog Arizona Public Interest Research Group, was recognized by the Arizona League of Conservation Voters for leading efforts to improve environmental and conservation policies in Arizona.
Last month, the U.S. PIRG Education Fund (link opens PDF file) released a report taking aim at a new, distasteful trend: colleges and financial institutions combining forces to enrich themselves at the expense of students looking for a convenient method to access their financial aid.
Continued stagnation within the U.S housing market has been cited as one of the key factors contributing to a still slow economic recovery. Meanwhile, forecasts for the remainder of the year indicate a rise in foreclosures and sluggish home sales remain.
If no Congressional action is taken, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford Student Loans will double from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1. A group including Pennsylvania students, parents, and thePennsylvania Public Interest Research Group (PennPIRG), a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest advocacy organization, are calling on Pennsylvania Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey to take action to keep interest rates where they are now.
The widely popular move to update the Massachusetts Bottle Bill (H890 in the House, S1650 in the Senate) has been dealt another blow by the powerful committee in whose hands the measure’s fate resides. The bill, which would update the decades-old recycling program to require deposits on non-carbonated beverages such as juices, coffee beverages and bottled water, has once again been sent out for “further study” by the Joint Committee on Telecom, Utilities and Energy.
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.
BOSTON —Supporters of expanding the bottle bill to cover more types of beverages were outraged by a committee vote yesterdaymorning that will likely torpedo the proposal until next January, when the next legislative session begins.
Just how do we get banks and other financial firms to stop using pretty plastic like crack? Why are some student loans connected to a debit card with costly fees?
With the cost of higher education rising so fast that some Americans are being priced out of college, it is unconscionable that some unscrupulous financial firms have found yet another way to empty the pockets of students and their families.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), along with several other congressional groups, sent letters to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education expressing concern about the impact of debit card agreements on college students.
