Markey Votes to End Unethical Practices in Student Loan Industry, Protect Students and Families

Press Release

MARKEY VOTES TO END UNETHICAL PRACTICES IN STUDENT LOAN INDUSTRY, PROTECT STUDENTS AND FAMILIES

Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA) today joined a majority in the House of Representatives to approve the Student Loan Sunshine Act, bipartisan legislation to clean up the relationships between student lenders and colleges. With evidence mounting of conflicts of interest and other unethical practices in the student loan industry, this bill is urgently needed to better protect students and families from abuses within the student aid system.

Rep. Markey said, "As the cost of a college education has skyrocketed in recent years, American students and their families have taken on enormous amounts of debt. It is unconscionable for lenders and colleges to engage in bribery or other corrupt practices at the expense of these hardworking students and their parents. I am proud to support this legislation to end those practices and help restore the trust that students and families should have in our federal student aid programs."

Investigations at the federal and state level by news organizations over the last several months have highlighted a number of unethical practices in the student loan industry, such as lenders offering gifts or other inducements to college financial aid offices in exchange for higher loan volumes.

House Democrats first introduced H.R. 890, the Student Loan Sunshine Act, in February and are currently conducting investigations into the conflicts of interest and relationships among lenders, schools, and public officials responsible for running federal student aid programs. Expanded to fully address the egregious practices that had been unearthed since the bill was first introduced, the Sunshine Act passed the House today by a vote of 414-3.

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