Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) today (Thursday, March 11) joined Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) at a press conference to push for including student loan reform as part of the reconciliation bill.

The student aid reform package would make historic investments in our economic future by eliminating the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL), a wasteful loan program that gives away billions to banks.

The University of Minnesota dropped the FFEL program in favor of direct lending to students 14 years ago. The billions saved can be used to increase Pell Grants, making college more affordable and helping more students graduate.

30 years ago, the maximum Pell grant covered 77 percent of the cost of attending the average four-year public college. Today, it only covers 35 percent.

“To me, this whole discussion boils down to a simple question,” said Sen. Franken. “Are we going to continue wasting billions of dollars on subsidies to banks, or are we going to use the money to help students go to college? In this tough economy, when so many students are struggling to afford college, it just doesn’t make sense to me that we would choose banks over students.”

Last October, Sen. Franken authored an op-ed along with former Sen. David Durenberger (R-Minn.) detailing the need for student loan reform. The text can be found here: http://franken.senate.gov/press/?page=news_single&news_item=OpEd_Savings__and_Saving_On__Student_Aid