Young, Shaheen Renew Push to Curb Mounting Student Debt by Improving Institutional Accountability

WASHINGTON –As student debt continues to soar across the country, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) are renewing their push on theStudent Protection and Success Act, bipartisan legislation to curb the mounting student debt crisis by increasing higher education institutions’ accountability for their students’ ability to repay their loans and requiring institutions to have a vested interest in the success of their students.
TheStudent Protection and Success Actwould enact a series of measures to hold higher education institutions accountable by requiring them to share responsibility for student success. The bipartisan bill would remove federal student loan eligibility from all colleges and universities where less than 15 percent of their students are able to begin repaying their loans within three years of graduating or leaving school. The bill would also require schools to pay a “risk-sharing fee” based on the total loan volume their students are not able to repay, and the Department of Education would then allocate those funds to support schools that are better assisting low-income students.
“Our Student Protection and Success Act will help ensure colleges and universities are preparing hard-working students for meaningful careers that will better enable graduates to repay their student loans,” saidSenator Young.
“The rising cost of college—coupled with the debt students incur in order to attend—has become a barrier for too many young people who want to pursue higher education to achieve their career and life goals,” saidSenator Shaheen.
TheStudent Protection and Success Actwould:
Full text of the legislation is availablehere.