Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Education
Durbin, Miller Urge Examination of Student Debit Card Practices
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Assistant Senate Majority Leader, and U.S. Representative George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, today sent letters to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray and Department of Education Inspector General Kathleen Tighe, expressing concern over the adverse financial impact debit card agreements between banks and … Continue Reading
May 30, 2012
Durbin Pledges to Work to End Campus Debit Card Fees that Send Taxpayer Funds Directly to Banks
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after the consumer group U.S. PIRG published a report describing troubling aspects of partnerships that colleges have formed with financial institutions to provide students with federal student aid disbursements via debit cards that carry significant fees. The report also discussed efforts by colleges and financial institutions to provide students with campus checking accounts and campus identification … Continue Reading
April 27, 2012
Durbin Calls on CFPB to Warn All Students About For-Profit College Industry Bad Actors
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today commended President Obama's decision to sign an Executive Order that will help ensure that our veterans and servicemembers have the information they need to make informed decisions about their education and are protected from aggressive and deceptive marketing by the for-profit college industry. Durbin also called on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a warning to students about the bad actors in the for-profit … Continue Reading
April 25, 2012
Durbin: Congress Must Take Action to Prevent Interest Rates on Federal Student Loans from Doubling
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - As President Barack Obama travels to college campuses across the country speaking about the growing student loan debt crisis, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke on the Senate floor today to urge Congress to pass legislation preventing student interest rates from doubling for more than 7.4 million students on July 1st, 2012. Durbin has co-sponsored the Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012, introduced today, which would maintain the current interest rates … Continue Reading
March 29, 2012
"Student Debt Bomb" Alert: Durbin, Harkin, Introduce Bill to Ensure Students Are Not Misled on Loan Options
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Noting that two-thirds of private student loan borrowers were not aware of the dramatic difference between federal student loans and risky, higher-interest, private student loans, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) today introduced a bill that would require schools to counsel students before they sign on to expensive, even unnecessary, private student loan debt and inform them if they have any untapped federal loan eligibility. In many instances … Continue Reading
March 20, 2012
Durbin: Congress Ignores Exploding Student Debt Crisis
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - At a hearing to examine the growing student loan debt crisis in America, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged Congress to take steps to help struggling students beginning with the passage of his Fairness for Struggling Students Act - a bill that will restore fairness in student lending by treating privately issued student loans in bankruptcy the same as other types of private debt. Durbin also addressed the role of for-profit colleges in exacerbating the growing … Continue Reading
March 20, 2012
The Looming Student Debt Crisis: Providing Fairness For Struggling Students
Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts Our nation faces a serious problem with student loan debt. Last month, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys issued an eye-opening report titled "The Student Loan 'Debt Bomb." The report pointed out that American student borrowing exceeded $100 billion in 2010, and total outstanding student loans exceeded $1 trillion last year. There is now more student loan debt in this … Continue Reading
February 28, 2012
Durbin: Illinois Agency Should Take Action Against Westwood College
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Illinois State Approving Agency to make the criminal justice program offered by Westwood College - currently under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General - ineligible for federal funding under the GI Bill. According to Durbin, veterans in Illinois rely on the State Approving Agency for assurance of the integrity of the school they attend. "Providing veterans with education benefits makes sense when we can … Continue Reading
February 22, 2012
Durbin Urges Accreditor to Make Details of University of Phoenix Review Public So Students Can Make Informed Decisions
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) late yesterday urged the Higher Learning Commission, which reviews and accredits colleges and universities, to make public the details of their upcoming review of the University of Phoenix. According to Durbin, with the University of Phoenix being the subject of at least five state lawsuits and an investigation by the General Accountability Office, students and families should have complete access to the Higher Learning Commissions findings … Continue Reading
January 23, 2012
Durbin, Harkin: Congress Must Remove Loophole that Encourages For-profit Colleges to Target Veterans
[CHICAGO, IL] - At a forum examining aggressive recruiting and marketing tactics practiced by some members of the for-profit college industry to target veterans and service members, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced legislation that would further limit federal government subsidies to for-profit colleges and eliminate the incentive for these extremely profitable schools to aggressively target veterans and service members. The Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers (POST) Act is … Continue Reading
January 13, 2012
Durbin: USDA Should Work More Closely with Chicago Public Schools to Eliminate Fraud in School Lunch Program
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Prompted by a Chicago Tribune report unveiling cases of school employees submitting false information in order to enroll more children for free and reduced lunches, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to work more closely with schools and school districts - including Chicago Public Schools - to reduce or eliminate fraud in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Specifically, Durbin asked the USDA to … Continue Reading
January 10, 2012
Durbin Calls on Illinois Colleges and Universities to Help Protect Students from Hidden Bank Fees
[EDWARDSVILLE, IL] - Colleges and universities should take a leading role in promoting transparency in checking account fees, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said today at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Durbin called on Illinois schools to encourage their partner financial institutions to voluntarily adopt a bank account fee disclosure form designed to make checking account terms and fees transparent and easy for consumers to understand. College students - many of whom open … Continue Reading
December 22, 2011
Durbin and Senator Call for End to Cigar Company's Sponsorship of NCAA Orange Bowl
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was joined by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in calling on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Orange Bowl Committee to reconsider a three-year agreement making a cigar company - Camacho Cigars - a corporate sponsor of the Discover Orange Bowl. "Tobacco has no place in sports, and the promotion of cigars at the Orange Bowl sends the wrong message to young fans," the Senators … Continue Reading
December 09, 2011
Durbin Calls on Illinois-based For-profit College to Refund Tuition if Programs Lose Accreditation
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - After learning that the former CEO of Career Education Corporation (CEC) is set to receive a $5 million severance, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Illinois-based company to refund tuition to students if their program of study loses accreditation. CEC, which owns and operates Le Cordon Bleu and the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, risks losing accreditation after its national accreditor discovered that the company directly … Continue Reading
December 07, 2011
Durbin, Harkin: GAO Report Rejects For-Profit College Industry's Excuse for Poor Student Success Rates
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced that a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report debunks the for-profit college industry's longtime excuse for poor student success rates at their schools: that they enroll students whose socioeconomic status and other characteristics make them "high-risk." Today's GAO report, which compares student success rates at for-profit, nonprofit, and public colleges, controlled for those characteristics and … Continue Reading
November 17, 2011
Durbin and Kirk Introduce Legislation to Protect School Children with Allergies
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) today introduced a bill to encourage schools across the country to maintain access to critical life saving medication for children with food and other allergies. The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act will encourage states across the nation to improve school access to epinephrine auto-injectors, like the EpiPen, to be used if students have life threatening systemic allergic reactions. "Every day, … Continue Reading
November 14, 2011
Durbin and Kirk Announce Legislation to Protect School Children with Allergies
[CHICAGO] - Schools across the country should maintain access to critical life saving medication for children with food and other allergies, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) said today. The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, which Durbin and Kirk intend to introduce in the Senate this week, will encourage states across the nation to improve school access to epinephrine auto-injectors, like the EpiPen, to be used if students have life threatening … Continue Reading
October 26, 2011
Durbin Statement on Administration's Efforts to Help Students Manage Loan Debt
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after President Obama announced new steps to make college more affordable and make it easier for students to repay their federal student loans: "Today's announcement by President Obama is welcome news for the millions of students and recent graduates who are struggling to pay off their student loans. Plans to cap monthly payments, provide greater access to loan repayment programs, aid in the … Continue Reading
October 24, 2011
Durbin Calls for Passage of Key Provisions from American Jobs Act
[DECATUR, IL] - In order to give the lagging economic recovery a boost, Congress needs to pass critical elements of the American Jobs Act that would invest in school, infrastructure, and transit modernizations while putting people back to work, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said at Johns Hill Magnet School in Decatur, Illinois. While passage of the American Jobs Act was blocked earlier this month by a Republican-led filibuster, Democrats in the U.S. Senate will try to pass individual … Continue Reading
October 21, 2011
Durbin, Kirk Extend Impact Aid Funding Formula For Schools Serving The Great Lakes Naval Base
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) today announced that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has approved a bill that will extend the practice of allowing the five public schools serving the Great Lakes Naval Training Base to pool their students to maximize federal education assistance through the Impact Aid program. The legislation also allows North Chicago to remain eligible for heavily impacted status for the next five years. … Continue Reading