Students from Bellevue Community College and The University of Washington met with Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-8) in his district office on Mercer Island Monday afternoon. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the upcoming legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, which is many years overdue. WashPIRG presented the following platform:
1. Cut excessive lender subsidies out of the loan programs to pay for increased aid.
2. Make student loans affordable by lowering the interest rate and passing other protections for borrowers.
3. Make student loans manageable, such as limiting loan payments to a reasonable percent of income.
4. Provide more need based grant aid for low income students.
Attending the meeting:
Nicole Allen, WashPIRG Campus Organizer
Shirin Ebrahimi, UW Student and WashPIRG Intern
Cullen White, President of the Associated Students of the University of Washington
Julia Abelev, BCC Student and WashPIRG Intern
Zach Altenhofen, Associated Students of Bellevue Community College
