As you may have heard, if Congress does not act by July 1, interest rates on federally subsidized loans will double from 3.4% to 6.8%.  In this age of $40,000 tuition we can’t afford to have interest rates unexpectedly increasing, so SA Government is speaking up. SA Senator Vanessa Sanchez and I met with Rep. Kathy Hochul last week to rally her support, and we joined a conference call with President Obama and senior leaders this week to discuss the issue.  I would like to extend gratitude to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Jonathan Burdick for his help in arranging meetings and advocating on this issue as well. You can read more about my stance in our Open Letter on Student Debt, and show your support for the cause by posting on Facebook, tweeting #DontDoubleMyRates, and contacting your Representative and Senators.

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The Safe Ride Home Program will be extended through 5:00 a.m. Monday, May 7th. After that, the program will be finished for the semester. The program is available by request at x5-3333.

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Dear President Obama, Leader Reid, Leader McConnell, Speaker Boehner, and Leader Pelosi:

On behalf of 225 student body presidents representing 3 million college students around the country, we write to request that you act to improve the fast-deteriorating state of student debt in the nation.  Recently student loan debt topped $1 trillion nationwide with the average student graduating more than $25,000 in debt.  The nation needs real bipartisan action to address this problem long term.

On July 1st, the subsidized Stafford loan interest rate will increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Student loan debt is already too high, and inaction will put most borrowers $2,800 further in debt. The neediest students will owe $5,000 more over their repayment period. In an uncertain economy, we simply cannot afford to accumulate more debt.

Youth unemployment is the highest it has been since the 1940s, causing even greater barriers to repaying loans.  While college graduates fare better in the job market than those without a college degree, an increasing number of graduates are defaulting on their loans, damaging their credit early on.  Nearly 9 percent of borrowers who started repaying their loans in 2009 defaulted in the first two years.

This is an issue about young consumers.  Increasing interest rates to 6.8 percent will cause more students and parents to seek riskier private loans. This will make a bad situation worse. The federal student loan programs offer a fixed interest rate while private loans have variable interest rates with terms that make them much pricier and harder to pay off over the long term.

There has long been a promise that, if a student goes to college, works hard, and does well, they will have a more prosperous future ahead of them. Student loan debt is severely undermining that prospect.

Ultimately, we need bold, bipartisan steps to address the systemic problems that are driving up the cost of college. That conversation needs to start now. We hope action on extending the 3.4 percent Stafford loan interest rate is the first of many steps in a real effort to address the level of student debt and reduce the excessive need for borrowing.  The long term economic health of the nation and the future prosperity of a generation depend on your actions. Now is the time to make a serious commitment to fix how we finance college in America. This starts with protecting the current student loan interest rates.

Sincerely,

Bradley Halpern
Students’ Association President
University of Rochester

…and 200+ undersigned Student Government Presidents.

(Originally published by the National Campus Leadership Council)

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Dear Speaker Topudurti,

When Rohini and I announced our candidacy for President and Vice President of the Students’ Association one year and some months ago, we had high hopes for empowering students, enabling access to information, developing the campus, and increasing engagement in the affairs of SA Government.  Thanks to the commitment of the members of this administration, those hopes have not for one moment faded, numerous successes have been achieved, and time has truly flown by.

A great deal of gratitude is owed to the nearly seventy members of SA Government who have supported our mission, worked tirelessly for the betterment of our community and preservation of fairness this year.  I also wish to thank the faculty and staff who have been supportive of our initiatives and engaged us positively this year, without whom success would not have been as meaningful.

I would also like to acknowledge the student leaders who have made our SA organizations unprecedentedly successful and those who have demonstrated a heightened sense of communal responsibility this year.  Their partnership has been the biggest reward of our work.

I have begun concluding our business and transitioning to the new administration.  Our team will continue to work with the incoming group over the next month to ensure a smooth transition and conclusion of initiatives.

Rohini and I both have the privilege of remaining at the University through next year to observe and support the successive administration’s goals and ideals. They have expressed interest in continuing to pursue the ideals about which we are so passionate, and we wish them the all the best.

If at any point we can be of assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to let us know.  We look forward to continuing our involvement a new capacity.  It has been a pleasure serving with you, and we wish you much success in the coming year and all that you do.  Effective immediately, I resign my post as President of the Students’ Association so that President-Elect Roshal Patel may begin fulfilling his duty.

Sincerely,

Bradley Halpern

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