The State of the Union for Youth

Just a few highlights of things that reference the Millennial Generation. Read the whole thing here

• "most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt"
• "Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July"
• "Higher education can’t be a luxury – it’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford"
• "states also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets"
• "After all, innovation is what America has always been abt Most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses" - true, many by youth

OWS

• "And we've put in place new rules to hold Wall Street accountable, so a crisis like that never happens again."
• "And I will not go back to the days when Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules. The new rules we passed restore what should be any financial system’s core purpose: Getting funding to entrepreneurs with the best ideas, and getting loans to responsible families who want to buy a home, start a business, or send a kid to college.
• So if you're a big bank or financial institution, you are no longer allowed to make risky bets with your customers' deposits. You’re required to write out a "living will" that details exactly how you’ll pay the bills if you fail -- because the rest of us aren’t bailing you out ever again. And if you’re a mortgage lender or a payday lender or a credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they can't afford with confusing forms and deceptive practices are over. Today, American consumers finally have a watchdog in Richard Cordray with one job: To look out for them."

In response, the PIRGs put out a release regarding the impact of the President's speech and potential legislation on higher education:

"“In this economy, we cannot double the student loan interest rate. Without a new plan, millions of students will pay a crushing $5,200 more on their student loan than they otherwise would,” said Rich Williams, Higher Education Advocate for US PIRG. “Students are already weighed down by state budget cuts, struggling family finances and uncertain job prospects. We applaud President Obama for his proposal to keep student loan interest rates low.”

If Congress does nothing, borrowers who will takeout the maximum $23,000 in subsidized student loans will see their interest balloon to an additional $5,200 over a 10-year repayment period and $11,300 over a 20-year repayment period.

In addition to loans, many students work their way through college to keep their debt burden low. However more full time students are becoming full time workers. With the economic down turn, it is getting harder for those students to find and continue employment. Doubling the amount of work-study jobs, as proposed by the President, will help support needy students willing to work hard make it to graduation."

Here is a chart (PDF) from the PIRGs on how students would be impacted if the interest rate on student loans doubled in July.