We've saddled 40 million Americans with student loan debt. That's the price we now charge — apparently — for the American Dream.
But then, we've made that debt really hard to pay back. Responsible borrowers find themselves owing more after years of repayment than they originally borrowed!
When did that become OK?
So Consumer Reports is fighting back. Simple reforms can ensure that your payments are applied to your principal balance in a way that eventually pays off the loan.
We've heard from so many of you — from parents paying back their children's loans, from newly weds starting life with two piles of debt, from mid-carreer professionals wondering how it got this bad! We've heard you. Now, please take a moment to help us fix this!
Sign the petition to call on Education Secretary Arne Duncan to fix the broken student loan system now!
Dear Education Secretary Arne Duncan,
Taxpayers bailed out the biggest banks, then kept them going with low or no interest loans for years. Meanwhile families are struggling with student loan debt, and even responsible repayment doesn't seem to reduce the balance. Give American families the same breaks you gave the banks.
Responsible student loan borrowers are drowning in a rising sea of debt because their payments are not applied fairly to reduce the principal balance, and they can't easily consolidate loans to improve repayment terms.
- Credit any payment beyond the minimum to the highest interest balance (as credit card companies are already required to do);
- Require every payment to reduce the principal, even just a small amount. If that means reducing the interest rate to accommodate income based repayment plans, then do it.
- Make it easier for responsible borrowers to consolidate older loans and qualify for payments based on their income;
[Your comments here]
These simple changes would help millions of Americans. Fix a broken student loan system now!
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
