News Releases

News Release | Student PIRGs | Consumer Protection, Higher Ed, Student Debt

Banks Skim Millions in Fees from Student Aid Using Debit-Card-Linked Student IDs

Washington, D.C. – Over 9 million students are at risk for increased educational debt, due to bank-affiliated student debit cards that come with high fees, insufficient consumer protections, and few options. Financial institutions now have affinity partnerships with almost 900 campuses nationwide, grafting bank products onto student IDs and other campus cards to become the primary recipient of billions in federal financial aid to distribute to students.

Read more about Banks Skim Millions in Fees from Student Aid Using Debit-Card-Linked Student IDs

News Release | Health Care

RESPONDING TO STUDENTS, CONGRESS EXTENDS LOW COLLEGE LOAN RATE

Statement of Rich Williams, U.S. PIRG Higher Education Advocate, on the Congressional passage of bipartisan legislation to prevent subsidized Stafford student loan interest rates from doubling.

Read more about RESPONDING TO STUDENTS, CONGRESS EXTENDS LOW COLLEGE LOAN RATE

News Release | Higher Ed

President Signs Bill Preventing Student Loan Interest Rates from Doubling

Students can breathe a sigh of relief today. At least for the next year, student strapped with debt will get a temporary reprieve from doubling interest rates on their loans borrowed next year.

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News Release | PennPIRG Education Fund | Foods

AG SUBSIDIES PAY FOR 21 TWINKIES PER TAXPAYER, BUT ONLY HALF OF AN APPLE APIECE

PHILADELPHIA — Federal subsidies for commodity crops are subsidizing junk food additives like high fructose corn syrup, enough to pay for 21 Twinkies per taxpayer every year, according to PennPIRG’s new report, Apples to Twinkies 2012. Meanwhile, limited subsidies for fresh fruits and vegetables would buy one half of an apple per taxpayer.

Read more about AG SUBSIDIES PAY FOR 21 TWINKIES PER TAXPAYER, BUT ONLY HALF OF AN APPLE APIECE

News Release | Democracy

New Report Details Latest Numbers on Outside Spending, Secret Money and Super PAC Fundraising for 2012 Elections

WASHINGTON – The Top 5 “dark money” spenders on presidential election ads have reported less than 1% of their spending to the FEC, which is all that is required by the agency’s insufficient standards, according to a new report analyzing the latest campaign filings.

Read more about New Report Details Latest Numbers on Outside Spending, Secret Money and Super PAC Fundraising for 2012 Elections

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Students in Action

Student leaders educate the campus about income inequality during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
We collect petition signatures - lots of them!
Hunger and Homelessness intern Roua Aboukhadijeh collecting interview footage on campus for a short film on poverty.
Students campaign for High Speed Rail.
Fast Trains ARE Cool.
Students volunteer at a local garden for the National Hunger Cleanup.
Volunteers wear the textbook mascot costumes to educate students about affordable textbook alternatives.
Students posing with the textbook Rebellion books, We Want Cheaper TEXTBOOKS!!
Textbook Rebel and Mr. $200 drew attention to outrageous textbook prices.
Six media outlets covered a stop on the Textbooks Rebellion tour to promote affordable alternatives to outrageously expensive textbooks.