PIRG in the News

Media Hit | Consumer Protection, Higher Ed, Textbooks

Groups target textbook prices to rein in college costs

A push to create free or inexpensive textbooks is gaining momentum as educators, philanthropists and policymakers nationwide search for new ways to rein in college costs.

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Media Hit | Higher Ed

New York Times: Student Loan Interest Rates Loom as Political Battle

Rich Williams, the higher education advocate for U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said he thought about 14 moderate Republican senators might support the effort to keep the interest rates down. “This should be a bipartisan issue,” he said. “It’s something everyone gets.”

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Media Hit | Higher Ed

Obama, Romney focus on student debt as campaign issue

“This should send a clear message to Congress that this is a common sense nonpartisan issue,” said Rich Williams, higher education advocate for U.S. PIRG.

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Media Hit | Higher Ed

Students Lose When Financial Aid Goes Onto Fee-Laden Debit Cards

Thought the student loan crisis was bad as it is? Now add hefty fees into that mix. Providers say students can avoid the fees that pile up when they elect to receive their financial aid on a debit card, but new research from a consumer advocacy group finds that these companies throw up roadblocks to keep the fee revenue rolling in, even as colleges make big bucks off their affiliations with these institutions.

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Media Hit | Higher Ed

Campus debit cards can carry downsides

Consumer advocates have long criticized the amount of fees associated with debit cards. Most recently, a report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund found that hundreds of colleges have partnerships with financial companies to put a student’s financial aid on debit or prepaid cards that carry hefty fees. Under some of these deals, official student photo ID cards can double as debit cards.