ICYMI: Cassidy Talks Student Loan Reform at AEI Event

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, headlined an event on Capitol Hill hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) to discuss his groundbreaking Lowering Education Costs and Debt Act, a package of five bills aimed at directly addressing the issues driving the skyrocketing cost of higher education and the increasing amounts of debt students take on to attend school.

Cassidy also discussed President Biden’s student loan schemes including the new IDR rule, which allows a majority of bachelor’s degree student loan borrowers to not pay back even the principal on their loans, costing taxpayers as much as $559 billion. This month, Cassidy introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn Biden’s new IDR policy.

“It's important to point out that the Biden administration is not forgiving debt. They're just transferring the responsibility to pay it back from those who willingly took on the loan to those who either paid back their student loans or who never took the loan in the first place. So they are transferring this debt to the people I represent, again, who couldn't afford to go to college or chose not to, and now are working good jobs…And I just think it's incredibly unfair to all of the Americans to whom the debt is being transferred,” said Dr. Cassidy.

“[Our package] sets out to make the young person an informed consumer as to what is the best place for he or she to get their education. Not just the school, but the curriculum,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “So we're on the front end all the way through the process at the back end, trying to correct the underlying factors that that have created, what you asked about in your first question, the precedent for the crisis to begin.”

Click here to watch the full event.  

The Lowering Education Costs and Debt Act:  

• Creates downward pressure on the cost of colleges and universities that have used the availability of federal loans to artificially increase their prices, leading students to take out rising amounts of debt.   
• Provides students and families with better information to choose the right school and program of study to achieve the best return on investment for them.  
• Simplifies the student loan borrowing process to prevent students from unintentionally taking out more loans than they can afford or need.  
• Ensures borrowers can navigate student loan repayment options without unnecessary confusion.  
• Guides students against taking on debt to attend programs that do not translate to higher-paying job opportunities.  

The bills in this package include:   

• The College Transparency Act (CTA) – Reforms the college data reporting system to ensure students and families have better information on student success and outcomes as they consider higher education institutions. Cassidy previously introduced this bill.    
• The Understanding the True Cost of College Act – Requires institutions of higher education to use a uniform financial aid letter with clear indications of the types and breakdown of aid included (scholarships, loans, work study, etc.) so students and their families can understand and compare their financial aid options. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) previously introduced this bill.     
• The Informed Student Borrowing Act – Supports students in meeting their academic needs and budget when deciding to take out loans by offering clear information about the duration of their loan, their expected monthly payment, how much money they will likely make in the future after attending their school and program of choice, etc. It requires borrowers to annually receive this information through loan counseling to understand the value of their student loan. U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced this bill today.    
• The Streamlining Accountability and Value in Education (SAVE) for Students Act – Streamlines confusing repayment options for borrowers from nine options to two to give students and families clarity as to which repayment plan best fits their needs. Additionally, the bill limits new loans to undergraduate and graduate programs where former students cannot earn more than a high school graduate or a bachelor’s degree recipient, respectively. U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced this bill today.    
• The Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans (GOAL) Act – Ends inflationary Graduate PLUS loans and puts downward pressure on rising tuition costs by limiting graduate school borrowing. Additionally, it allows institutions to set lower loan limits by program to protect students from over-borrowing. U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) introduced this bill today. 

Click here for a one-pager on the entire package.  

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