President Obama on Wednesday recruited college reporters to help educate Americans about the administration’s latest round of college loan reforms, known as the Student Aid Bill of Rights.
In a conference call with about 50 college reporters from across the country, the president promoted his higher education agenda. He also urged the young journalists to help sell his programs by directing readers to White House websites where they can declare their support for college-loan reforms.
“I just urge you, as you’re writing this up, if your readers and listeners agree with the values I just stated, they can go to WhiteHouse.gov/collegeopportunity, sign their names. I’ve signed it. I’m asking members of Congress and lenders and business leaders to do the same,” Mr. Obama said. “We want to mobilize the energy and focus the attention of everybody nationally around the basic principles that can make it easier for young people to get the education they need. We can’t allow higher education to become a luxury. It’s an economic imperative that every American family should be able to afford.”
The call — which also included Education Secretary Arne Duncan and other administration officials — was made one day after Mr. Obama announced the student bill of rights, which puts restrictions on lenders in the name of helping graduates get out of debt faster.
The initiative, among other things, requires lenders to give borrowers more information on how to lower or otherwise tweak their repayment options. Lenders also must inform borrowers whenever their accounts are sold or transferred to another party.
Lenders also will be required to apply any prepayments to the loans with the highest interest rates unless the borrower specifically requests otherwise.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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