Senator Scott Joins Senator Donnelly to Introduce Bipartisan Financial Literacy Legislation to Help Student Borrowers

Press Release

U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) have introduced the Empowering Student Borrowers Act (S. 781), legislation that aims to improve the financial literacy of college students and ensure that student borrowers have access to the best tools and information to make responsible borrowing decisions.

"Financial literacy is incredibly important for families across America, and especially for those families and students who will be taking out student loans in order to further their education," Senator Scott said. "By developing best practices to empower students and their families when making decisions regarding their finances, we can help reduce loan debt and ensure more folks have the opportunity to reach their educational goals."

Senator Donnelly said, "A college education is important for many Hoosiers to secure good-paying jobs in today's economy, and student loans help enable thousands of these Hoosiers access to a quality college education that would otherwise be out-of-reach. We need to take steps to better inform student borrowers and empower them to make the best decisions for their financial situation. As Indiana University has shown, for example, we can do that by ensuring students have a clear understanding of their borrowing obligations, which makes the process more transparent. This legislation is a first step in improving the financial literacy of student borrowers, promoting the best practices used by colleges and universities to assist students as they make financial decisions related to their loans and to raise awareness about their borrowing obligations."

The Empowering Student Borrowers Act would require the Department of Education to establish and maintain best practices for colleges and universities on useful methods to teach financial literacy skills and provide information to assist students when making financial decisions related to student borrowing.

Source