How We Can Help Students Pay For College (Rep. Phil Hare)

I am deeply troubled by the unethical practices and conflicts of interest that have recently been revealed within the student loan industry. Students and their families, already struggling with rising tuition costs and high student loan interest rates, deserve to be given the best deal possible when borrowing for school.

Too often, colleges are steering student borrowers to specific companies; known as “preferred lenders,” while receiving compensation in return. Furthermore, there is growing evidence of extravagant kickbacks to college employees and questionable stock holdings by public officials. This is unacceptable.

Congress has a responsibility to make college more affordable and accessible. Part of that effort requires that students and their families have trust in our student loan system. To that end, I am a co-sponsor of the Student Loan Sunshine Act, which requires full disclosure of special arrangements between lenders and institutions of higher education and bans lenders from offering higher education employees gifts of more than $10 in value.

This bill should be passed and signed into law as soon as possible