JennPae's blog

Jennifer S. Pae is the president of the United States Student Association, the country’s oldest and largest national student association representing millions of students across the country in the Capitol, the White House, and the Department of Education. Jennifer recently ended her term as the primary student negotiator for the student loan committee for the Department of Education.

Right now, a corrupt college official and student loan lender may be purchasing a round of mojitos with your student loan check. Unfortunately, we have come to learn through Attorney General Cuomo’s recent investigations that this is not as absurd as it may sound.

Deceitful student loan practices have festered for years without federal oversight. Now that widespread corruption has been revealed, college students and their families must increase the pressure on Congress and the U.S. Department of Education to restore integrity to the nation’s higher education system.

Recently, Education Secretary Spellings testified before the House Education Committee and, once again, students are left behind in the debate over regulation and enforcement of the growing problems within the student loan industry. Chairman Miller grilled Secretary Spellings on the lack of enforcement by the Department with the student loan industry for unethical behaviors. While the Secretary explained that the “hurdle is too high” for enforcement due to unclear regulations and claimed that she was already taking large strides in oversight.