My fellow students, you have never been in better hands. Last spring, your Senators enacted the Student Advocacy Corps in an attempt to amplify our voice on a state and national level and this week you will be heard.
The Student Senate has unanimously passed a resolution on federal financial aid programs as it relates to pending higher education reauthorization legislation. The resolution establishes a phone-in campaign that will have already begun by the time you read this. The Student Advocacy Corps and Student Senate will be helping to connect students with their congressmen to urge that interest rates on Stafford and Perkins Loans and the cost of loan consolidation be reduced or at least maintained, that Pell Grants be increased, and that federal work-study programs expanded. The resolution does not explicitly take a stance on S 1614 or HR 609, two bills in the Congress, due to their complexity; while they may suggest some aid will be increased, higher interest rates would create a greater cost to the student over time.
I urge you to visit one of our phone-in tables this week for more information or to call toll-free 1-800-574-4AID and ask the switchboard operator to connect you to the office of your senator or congressman. For more information on the Student Advocacy Corps, or to find out how you may become involved in its efforts, please contact SAC Director Mike Goldenberg at goldem@rpi.edu.
The full text of the resolution is as follows:
Resolution on Student Aid
“In order to fill the emerging gap in our nation’s science and engineering workforce so vital to our nation’s prosperity and security, the Rensselaer Student Senate urges federal legislators to reconsider the proposed cuts to student financial aid, as they will adversely affect the 85% of Rensselaer’s 4,911 undergraduates who rely upon over $24.8 million in federal financial aid to pursue a technical education. The proposed cuts to higher education funding would be the largest in our nation’s history and are projected to cost the average loan-recipient nearly six-thousand dollars.
“The importance of student aid on Rensselaer’s students is best illustrated through the stories of Jen and Paul. Jen is a sophomore studying biomedical engineering who would like to work in tissue and stem cell research related to heart disorders. This is especially important to Jen because her grandfather, who raised her from the time she was 13 due to her mother’s illness, died from heart problems. Jen’s dream of a college education and the ability to research heart disorders is coming true because of the financial aid she receives from the federal government and her university. Without this funding she would be unable to attend because she and her widowed grandmother simply could not afford the cost. Paul has loved airplanes from the time he was a little boy. Perhaps Paul got this interest from his brother, who was eight years older and held the same fascination and ended up graduating from Rensselaer and working for the federal government. Two years later, Paul applied to Rensselaer and was thrilled when he was accepted. He enrolled for the fall of 2004, but that summer, tragedy struck when his father died suddenly. With his mother, who had devoted her life to being a homemaker, as the family’s only wage earner, Paul relied on federal financial aid from the Pell Grant, SEOG, subsidized loans and Work Study to finance his education. Without this funding his dream of studying aeronautical engineering and starting his own aeronautical design company would not have been possible.
“Considering specifically the proposed legislation and its affect on Rensselaer’s students, we, the Rensselaer Student Senate, stand unwaveringly in support of maintaining or reducing the interest rates on Stafford and Perkins Loans and the costs of loan consolidation, increasing Pell Grants, and expanding federal work-study programs.
“We implore federal legislators to expand these programs in the proposed higher education reauthorization bills. Doing so will lessen the enormous burden on Rensselaer’s present and future students and allow Rensselaer to better succeed in its mission to “educate our nation’s technical leaders” so vital to our nation’s prosperity and security.
“We strongly urge all students to advocate for the preservation of their financial aid by calling the 1-800-574-4AID to speak with their Congressman or Senator. The call is free, will only take few moments and may very well help preserve your student aid. CALL NOW & CALL OFTEN!”
