Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act

Floor Speech

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I rise today in support of H.R. 3179, the Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act, a bill my colleague, Representative Bonamici, has been a leader on.

A college degree remains one of the best investments a person can make to improve their skills and widen economic opportunities. At the same time, the decision to go to college also represents one of the most expensive decisions families can make. Many students and their families go into this process without the proper information to make this choice. The student debt crisis is, in part, a crisis in financial literacy where students lack knowledge about repayment plans that can help them affordably manage their student debt.

Through legislation passed by Congress and regulations implemented by President Obama, most students taking out loans today can already cap their loan payments at an affordable 10 percent of their discretionary income. Yet students are often unaware of these repayment options.

H.R. 3179 is a critical step in the right direction, filling a financial literacy gap faced by too many student aid recipients. This act provides better upfront, ongoing, and exit counseling information on financial aid and student debt so that students can make more informed choices of how to finance their education and always know how much they will owe.

This legislation also allows borrowers to receive important counseling that private loans are not as generous as Federal loans and are informed of their rights as a consumer when taking out a private loan.

There are many steps which need to be taken to address college affordability, and I am pleased to support this commonsense measure. I appreciate the leadership of my colleague from Kentucky.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I don't have any other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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