Rutgers Students Head to Capitol Hill April 17 to Fight Rate Hikes on Student Loans, Additional Cuts to Aid
WHO: |
Thirteen Rutgers student leaders, most of whom receive some form of federal financial aid; Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick; members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation. |
WHAT: | Undergraduate Student Advocacy Day, a one-day trip by Rutgers students to Capitol Hill to advocate on behalf of students at Rutgers and throughout the nation for robust federal financial support to help needy students pay for college. Rutgers President McCormick will join them at several meetings. |
WHEN: | Tuesday, April 17 |
WHERE: |
Students depart Metropark station, Iselin, on Amtrak train #185 at 8:45 a.m. Briefing lunch at noon, Hall of States Building, 444 North Capitol St., N.W., Washington, D.C.; Capitol Hill meetings from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. with New Jersey legislators and their staff members. |
BACKGROUND: |
A group of Rutgers students will meet with federal lawmakers on Capitol Hill about an issue of great importance for themselves and their peers: providing ample funding for federal student aid programs that help thousands of Rutgers students finance their education. This year, students will focus on the need to keep federally subsidized loans affordable by freezing interest rates at 3.4 percent, averting a scheduled doubling of that rate. The freeze would keep interest payments affordable for the 28,800 Rutgers students who rely on these loans to help make college possible. The students will also urge lawmakers to fund the maximum Pell grants at $5,635 in fiscal year 2013. More than 16,000 Rutgers students – nearly one in three undergraduates – rely on Pell Grants to fund their education. The students will also advocate for doubling federally supported work-study jobs over the next five years and speak out against further cuts to aid programs. Federal budget legislation over the past several years has cut student aid programs by approximately $30 billion. The students will be urging legislators not to balance the budget on the backs of students. |
Media Contact: Carl Blesch
732-932-7084 x616
E-mail: cblesch@ur.rutgers.edu