The plan for starting to fix the exorbitant costs of college tuition was laid out by President Obama in his SOTU. It included, most notably in regard to student loans (some 10 million loans were taken out last year while the amount of students who defaulted on their loans increased 30%), “limiting a borrower’s payment to 10% of his/her income and forgiving remaining debt after 20 years” (Whitehouse.gov). Such changes would drastically alter the nature of how the college student (or prospective student) makes decisions about their schooling – I would venture to guess that more would choose to seek advance degrees earlier in life (because with the loan forgiveness clause, no school debt by age 45 is a great incentive).

The House actually passed a bill that includes these exact reforms this past September. To see for yourself what it includes, check out the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act H.R. 3221. The president made a specific point to prod the Senate about catching up to the House’s impressive legislative accomplishments this past year, so all we wait upon for the most progressive education reform in decades to become the law of the land – is the Senate.

Trouble is afoot though. Trouble in the form of lobbyists for the nation’s largest private lenders, including Sallie Mae (who originated 22$ billion in student loans last year). These folks are just looking to protect their “sweet deal” as Arne Duncan calls it. “They’ve had a sweet deal. They’ve had this phenomenal deal that taxpayers have subsidized, and that’s a hard thing to give up.” (NYT 2/4/10)

So where are the student groups and parents who would benefit greatly from this reform? Why aren’t they getting sit-down meetings with Senators who are on the fence? Why aren’t college presidents writing editorials and calling Senators? Where are the teachers unions (who recently claimed huge electoral success in campaigning against big businesses like Nike for tax increases in Oregon)? There isn’t any logical reason for Senators to deny help to the millions of families and students who need it most, especially when there is a plan that does so at great lengths – all at no cost to the taxpayer. The claims made by big lenders that this legislation would cause more jobs to be lost is unfounded as well – the plan calls for incorporating the existing lending centers into an improved and more accessible customer service outlet.

It has been too long that students and families have bore the extra burden of college tuition rates that rise at nearly triple the rate of inflation. I’m calling my Senators.