Luke Swarthout Quotations

Loan repayment policies must be improved, so they do not push borrowers into poverty or discourage people from getting a college degree.

The American college system is still the best in the world but an increasing reliance on huge federal loans is having serious consequences for students' future careers and personal lives.

...Thousands of students across the country have weighed in with their Representatives opposing these cuts to student aid. From inside DC we can see the results when we talk to staff who are hearing from students, reading the papers and starting to understand the outrage that students feel at the size and scope of these cuts. In short I believe students can have a significant impact.

The Pell Grant isn't even keeping up with inflation, let alone college costs.

We call on President Bush to uphold the commitment to American economic competitiveness that he made in the State of the Union address by vetoing this bill and pushing for more affordable student loan policy.

Some people will describe it as paying down the deficit. If you look at how the reconciliation process started, it becomes clear this is, in fact, a down payment on a series of tax cuts.

This bill turns to students and families as the predominant source of revenue, rather than trying to identify inefficiencies in the loan programs. This bill asks students and parents to pay for tax cuts.

Studies have shown that high; unmet need is a barrier to college for many low-income students. The bill will gradually lower charges for some students, known as origination fees, over the next five years.

Increasing the Pell-Grant is critical as students face higher college costs across the country. As costs go up, the Pell-Grant unfortunately stays the same.

The goal of this entire effort has been to use students and parents as a revenue raiser.

The effect of this bill is that students and parents will end up getting less out of our student aid programs as a college degree continues to cost more. Students and their families need more aid in order to make college less expensive, and not the other way around.