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LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Victoria L. Stanish |
State Rep. John Yudichak |
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TO: Editor
FROM: State Rep. John Yudichak, D-Luzerne
RE: Suspect student loan practices
Recent investigations by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and others have uncovered several questionable activities taking place in the country’s student loan industry. This includes colleges providing favorable treatment to certain lenders in exchange for revenue sharing and other perks, and lender personnel posing as loan advisors at college financial aid centers.
This is an $85 billion industry that is not just a business, but a door for many students to achieve a higher education. How many people do you know who were able to pay for their college education in full without taking out a loan? These loans are essential for millions of students across our nation, and exploiting them for financial gain is a terrible injustice to our young people who are trying to better themselves.
To that end, I am introducing legislation that would help protect Pennsylvania students who take out loans. The bill would provide more extensive oversight of higher-education lending practices in Pennsylvania by forbidding lenders from providing gifts, including revenue sharing, to colleges and universities or their employees in exchange for any advantage in loan activities. It would also prohibit lenders’ employees and agents from posing as college or university employees, including staffing the school’s financial aid offices or telephone lines; and ban schools from directing potential borrowers to any promissory notes or loan agreements that do not allow students to choose the lender offering the relevant loan at that guarantee agency.
Many students are being pushed further into debt because there’s no guarantee that the companies being recommended to them for loans actually have the lowest rates. These companies are doing a huge disservice to our students in the name of making a dollar. Since the federal government has not seen fit to act yet, it’s up to Pennsylvania to make sure its students get the best loans at the lowest rate. I am asking my colleagues in the House and Senate for their support of this legislation so that we can ensure our young people receive a quality higher education without being overburdened by debt.
Rep. Yudichak represents the 119th Legislative District in the state House.
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