June 6, 2007 67LCR#1
LEGISLATIVE
COUNCIL
Sponsored by:
Dustin Farivar Leg
Council Parliamentarian
Authored by: Hadley Brown Tri-Executive
A Resolution
Higher Education Reform Bill & Letter
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Resolution History
The United States Student Association (USSA) and The State PIRGS’ Higher Education Project are conducting a higher education reform campaign in efforts to increase grant financial aid and make the student loan process more affordable. These organizations will be presenting the Higher Education Reform Bill to Congress on Wednesday, June 13. In conjunction with these efforts, they’re asking institutions of higher education and other groups to sign a letter asking Congress to reform policy in three major ways:
1) Increase the Pell Grant award to $5100 this year. Proponents of this initiative point to statistics that show that the Pell Grant program has had high success in increasing college accessibility for low-income students.
2) Reduce Interest Rates on student loans. The House of Representatives passed a bill in January 2006 that cut interest rates from 6.8% to 3.4%. The letter urges the Senate to also pass this bill.
3) Consider Reforming the Loan Repayment System. The letter suggests that graduates repay their debt according to their capacity to pay based on income and other factors.
Resolution Summary
Whereas, University of Colorado at Boulder students suffer from a decline in need-based financial aid awards, while graduates of UCB have recently been burdened with greater student loan debt; and
Whereas, Higher
education institutions in
Whereas, The rapidly increasing cost of higher education is severely detrimental to UCB students’ experiences in college, and makes college less accessible; and
Whereas, On behalf of UCB students, the UCSU supports the goals of a letter authored by The United States Student Association (USSA) and The State PIRGS’ Higher Education Project that urges Congress to increase the maximum Pell Grant award, and to reform the debt repayment process by lowering interest rates and allowing graduates to repay debts according to their income levels.
THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED by the Legislative Council of the
The
Vote Count
6/7/07 Passed Acclamation
6/21/07 Passed Acclamation
____________________________ __________________________________
Sara
Martinez Davine, Tri-executive Charles
Gilford III, Tri-executive
____________________________ __________________________________
Hadley
Brown, Tri-executive Boyce
Postma, Legislative Council President