Staggering increases in college prices, and public policies that exacerbate existing inequalities, continue to threaten the ability of low- and middle-income students, as well as students of color, to afford higher education.
Recent Actions
- August 1, 2016: The Education Trust joined a coalition of consumer and civil rights advocates in a letter to Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. urging the Department to strengthen new rules to protect students and taxpayers from student loan fraud and other misconduct.
- July 12, 2016: The Education Trust tells Congress “Don’t Walk Away From Low-Income Students” in a statement on the Labor-HHS-Education FY 17 Appropriations bill to be considered by the House Appropriations Committee.
- March 4, 2016: The Education Trust and a coalition of student, veteran, civil rights, consumer, and civil justice organizations sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Education John B. King to protect students and taxpayers and prevent colleges from hiding fraud and other wrongdoing through “forced arbitration” clauses.
- February 8, 2016: The Education Trust and a coalition of other civil rights organizations submitted comments to the Acting Secretary of Education, John King, providing recommendations on the proposed Enterprise Complaint System, which will accept complaints about loans, other aid, and institutions participating in the Title IV program. The systematic tracking of student and borrower complaints is essential to providing quality customer service, ensuring college and loan servicer and collector accountability, and preventing waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.
- September 24, 2015: The Education Trust releases a report, The Pell Partnership: Ensuring a Shared Responsibility for Low-Income Student Success, and an online data tool, which together show the average graduation gap between Pell and non-Pell students at the institutional level to be 5.7 percentage points. This contradicts the narrative by some Pell opponents that the program is not a good use of taxpayer dollars. Still, more needs to be done to fulfill the promise of the Pell Grant program.
- August 10, 2015: Along with TICAS, Ed Trust submitted comments to the Secretary of Education on Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), which would let all federal Direct student loan borrowers cap their monthly payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income, regardless of when they borrowed or their debt-to-income ratio.
- May 19, 2015: The Education Trust joined with Generation Progress, The Institute for College Access & Success, United States Student Association, and Young Invincibles to send a letter to Chairmen Alexander and Kline and Ranking Members Murray and Scott urging additional research on how prorating student loans based on attendance might affect college affordability, access, and success.
- March 19, 2015: Statement from The Education Trust on the Maximum Pell Grant Award Level in the House FY16 Budget.
- March 16, 2015: Dr. José Luis Santos spoke at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual Capitol Hill policy briefing series about college access, affordability, and accountability.
- December 22, 2014: José Luis Santos, vice president of higher education policy and practice at The Education Trust, issued a statement on the U.S. Department of Education’s college ratings framework.
- October 31, 2014: The Education Trust issued the a statement in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s final Gainful Employment rule:
- October 2, 2014: The Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery (RADD) Consortium for Higher Education Grants and Work-Study Reform released a paper detailing how the federal government can modernize its financial aid system to be more efficient, to bring it in line with the needs of today’s students, and to make colleges and universities more accessible to the lowest income students.
- August 29, 2014: The Education Trust submitted comments on Chairman Tom Harkin’s discussion draft to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). Although the draft bill addresses many important issues in higher education such as providing useful information to students and their families and improving teacher preparation programs, it does not give the necessary attention needed on holding colleges accountable for curbing college costs, access to college, and student success. We recommend stronger accountability measures on these fronts. Read our comments here.
- July 22, 2014: The Education Trust sent a letter to Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and Ranking Member George Miller (D-Calif.) concerning H.R.4983, the Strengthening Transparency in Higher Education Act, and H.R. 4984, the Empowering Students through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act. These bills address important issues of improved information and financial aid counseling for students. However, if more of our young people are to access, afford, and complete a postsecondary education, we must do more to address the staggering and rapidly growing cost of college, especially for low- and moderate-income students.
- June 26, 2014: Statement from The Education Trust on Reps. John Kline’s and Virginia Foxx’s Principles for Strengthening America’s Higher Education System.
- June 25, 2014: The Education Trust issued a statement in response to Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA).
- June 18, 2014: Ed Trust Calls for Linking Student Aid and Tax Benefits to College Access, Success, and Student Loan Repayment Rates in new report, Tough Love: Bottom-Line Quality Standards for Colleges.
- June 6, 2014: In support of the CHANCE (Creating Higher Education Affordability Necessary to Compete Economically) Act, Ed Trust joined other civil rights organizations in writing a letter backing the act’s goal of removing some of the financial barriers faced by hardworking low- and moderate-income students in successfully affording and completing postsecondary education.
- May 28, 2014: Fifty-three organizations who advocate for students, veterans, labor, consumers, and civil rights have signed a letter urging the Department of Education to strengthen the proposed gainful employment regulation to fully protect students and taxpayers from predatory career education colleges. Yesterday, 39 members of Congress sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education expressing their support for a robust gainful employment rule. It is more important than ever that the Department strengthen its final rule to stop career education programs that consistently leave students with high debt and worthless workforce skills or credentials.
- May 27, 2014: The Education Trust submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education on its proposed program integrity rule to establish minimum standards of quality and affordability for students in higher education.
- March 14, 2014: The Education Trust issued at statement regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed “gainful employment” regulation, released today, which is intended to ensure that career-education programs meet minimum standards of quality and cost.
- February 5, 2014: The Education Trust and I AM NOT A LOAN commend the University of Virginia (U.Va.) for announcing a new $8 million commitment to need-based financial aid. Included is a new scholarship program that will benefit incoming undergraduate students who show “exceptional promise and significant financial need.”
- February 4, 2014: The Education Trust, along with a coalition of more than 50 other organizations, sent a letter to the White House urging the administration to issue promptly a stronger, more effective gainful employment regulation. The letter lays out five elements, at minimum, that should be included in the regulation.
- January 16, 2014: On their own, universities can, through sustained efforts, radically reshape success rates for low-income students and students of color without greater selectivity in admissions, according to two reports released by The Education Trust.
- October 4, 2013: The Education Trust, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, National Education Association, American Association of University Professors, Colorado Student Power Alliance, Jobs With Justice, Student Labor Action Project, University of Oregon Student Labor Action Project, and The Institute for College Access and Success, released a one-pager on the dangers of Pay It Forward, the so-called “Zero Education Debt,” program. With students paying back a percentage of their wages over a set number of years, the program has a number of serious flaws that need to be addressed before moving forward.
- July 19, 2013: Ed Trust joined over 30 organizations working on behalf of students, veterans, consumers, faculty and staff, civil rights, and college and affordability to oppose the “Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act” (HR 2637). This bill would reward institutions that deceive prospective students and provide low-quality, overpriced educational services, when we should instead be rewarding schools that successfully train students for productive careers.
- July 17, 2013: Ed Trust joined over 25 other organizations calling on Congress to invest in America’s college students by offering comprehensive student loan reforms that would lower student loan debt for today’s borrowers and future borrowers.
- June 28, 2013: Ed Trust was one of 50 organizations that sent a letter to senators supporting the Keep Student Loans Affordable Act (s. 1238), which would extend the current interest rate of 3.4 percent for subsidized Stafford loans for one year. This bill would give Congress the time it needs to develop a long-term solution to ballooning interest rates that would be in the best interest of students.
- June 21, 2013: Ed Trust joined with student consumer, consumer, education and youth groups in penning a letter to Sens. Reid (D-Nev.) and McConnell (R-Ky.) urging the adoption of the Student Loan Affordability Act, S. 953, to keep student loan interest rates low until 2015 while Congress seeks to reauthorize the Higher Education Act and reach a comprehensive solution that is good for students.
- June 17, 2013: Ed Trust was one of about 30 organizations that wrote to Director Cordray of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging him to promptly use the CFPB’s authority to enforce consumer financial laws, including the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), to require that private education lenders obtain school certification prior to disbursing private education loans. Having schools certify private student loans can help ensure that students first exhaust their less expensive federal options before resorting to private loans.
- May 15, 2013: Co-signed by TICAS, Ed Trust’s May 15 letter to Rep. Joe Courtney supports the Student Loan Relief Act of 2013.