FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 11, 2014
Contact: Colin Seeberger, colin.seeberger@younginvincibles.org, 214.223.2913
Contact: Sarah Lovenheim, sarah.lovenheim@younginvincibles.org, 585.746.8281
Young Invincibles’ Statement on the Senate’s Failed Procedural Vote on the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act
Bill Would Have Allowed Student Loan Borrowers to Refinance Their Loans, Potentially Saving Them Thousands of Dollars Over the Life of Their Loan
[WASHINGTON]—Today, the US Senate voted to block debate on S. 2432, the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act. The bill would have given student loan borrowers with eligible federal and private student loans the opportunity to refinance their debt at today’s lower interest rates, and would have extended immediate relief for approximately 25 million student loan borrowers.
“With one in seven students defaulting on their debt within a few years of graduating, we are deeply disappointed that the Senate voted to block a measure that would have provided immediate relief to America’s struggling student loan borrowers,” said Rory O’Sullivan, Deputy Director of Young Invincibles. “It is frustrating to watch the Senate refuse to even debate this bill while $1.2 trillion dollars in student debt stifles our generation’s opportunities.”
In a recent letter to House Education & the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) and Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA), Young Invincibles detailed its priorities for other reforms to our higher education system that would help students. These proposals include:
- Bolstering the Pell Grants by making funding mandatory
- Simplifying the Federal financial aid system
- Reforming the Federal Work Study program
- Providing students with additional data to ensure they’re making well-informed decisions
- Providing relief to private loan borrowers
- Promoting innovation in higher education
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Young Invincibles is a national organization committed to amplifying the voices of young adults, ages 18 to 34, and expanding economic opportunity for our generation. Young Invincibles ensures that young adults are represented in today’s most pressing societal debates through cutting-edge policy research and analysis, and innovative campaigns designed to educate, inform and mobilize our generation to change the status quo. Follow us on Twitter at @YoungInvincible.