Article Type: Press Release

A Joint Statement on the President’s Budget from the Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) and the United States Student Association (USSA).

Today, lawmakers from both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate introduced bills that would protect college students from being needlessly steered into campus bank accounts — accounts with debit cards that often drive up students’ costs and deplete their financial aid.

Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McCutcheon v. FEC to strike down overall, or aggregate, contribution limits to candidates and political committees. U.S. PIRG research found that this ruling could bring $1 billion in additional campaign contributions from fewer than 2,800 elite donors through the 2020 election cycle.

Statement of Student PIRGs Higher Education Associate Ethan Senack on President Obama’s State of the Union speech

Today, a survey released by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund shows that 65% of student consumers have opted out of buying a college textbook due to its high price, and of those students, 94% they suffer academically.

Earlier today, Senator Richard Durbin (IL) and Senator Al Franken (MN) introduced the “Affordable College Textbook Act” that aims to make textbooks more affordable for today’s college students.

Thousands of American students are using the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) public Consumer Complaints Database to settle disputes about private student loans, according to a new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in McCutcheon v. FEC, eight pro-democracy groups are speaking out on the urgent need for amending the Constitution to protect the integrity of our democracy. 

Statement of U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski (Excerpted from his invited testimony) at the CFPB Field Hearing on the Credit CARD Act Harold Washington Library, Chicago, Illinois

In a first-of-its-kind study, U.S. PIRG compiled nation-wide evidence on transportation apps and vehicle sharing programs, and found that these advanced new tools have made it easier for Americans to drive less.