Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Education
Durbin, Duckworth Send Illinois School Counselors Letter Urging Them To Support Students Completing The FAFSA
CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today sent a letter to Illinois school counselors to urge them to assist students and their families in filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). After Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act, the U.S. Department of Education rolled out a new FAFSA form in January 2024. However, students, families, and counselors have experienced challenges with the new form. Along with encou… Continue Reading
06.14.24
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $14 Million In Grant Funding For Head Start Projects
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Illinois Head Start programs will receive $14,026,810 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant funding. The federal funding will support Head Start’s mission to offer services for children under the age of five in receiving wrap-around support in early learning and development. “Providing a strong education is one of the greatest gifts we can give the next g… Continue Reading
06.13.24
Durbin Meets With Braven And First-Generation College Students
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with Aimée Eubanks-Davis, CEO of Braven, an organization that works with colleges and employers to help underserved students complete college and obtain quality jobs by offering students a class on workforce readiness skills, support in securing paid internships, and holding networking, mentoring, and job skill sessions. First-generation college students from Chicago State University, National Louis University, and Northern Illinois … Continue Reading
06.07.24
Durbin, Schakowsky Offer Recommendations For New Department Of Education Mentorship Grant Program
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09) today sent a bicameral letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona applauding the inclusion of a Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) appropriations bill provision that creates a mentorship grant program that mirrors Durbin and Schakowsky’s Mentoring to Succeed Act. In their letter, the lawmakers highlighted the benefits of mentorship and offered suggestions on developing the mentorship grant … Continue Reading
05.30.24
Durbin, Duckworth Announce That Illinois School Districts Will Receive $48.4 Million In Rebates For EPA Clean School Bus Program
SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that 28 Illinois school districts will receive significant rebates, a combined total of more than $48 million, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2023 Clean School Bus Program (CSBP) rebate competition. The program, a $5 billion effort established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aims to convert the nation’s school bus fleets to low- or zero-emission v… Continue Reading
05.29.24
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $11.5 Million In Grant Funding For Head Start Projects
SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Chicago will receive $11,516,272 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant funding to support the center’s Head Start programming, which offers services for children under the age of five in receiving wrap-around support in early learning and development. “Providing a strong education is one of the greatest gifts we… Continue Reading
02.02.23
Durbin Introduces Bill To Improve Concussion Safety In School Sports
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced the Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act to strengthen elementary and secondary school procedures for preventing, identifying, and treating student-athletes who sustain concussions. While athletics are important to helping students learn team-building skills and connect with their peers, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, participating in school sports is not without risk. The National Federation of S… Continue Reading
11.30.22
Durbin Introduces Legislation To Create Interagency Committee To Improve Oversight Over For-Profit College Industry
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tina Smith (D-MN), today introduced the Proprietary Education Interagency Oversight Coordination Improvement Act, legislation that will establish an interagency committee tasked with improving coordination of federal oversight of for-profit colleges to ensure that students are not scammed out of an education and into a mountain of debt. The bill would require the committee to publish a… Continue Reading
09.12.22
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $3 Million for Illinois State Board of Education
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced $3,000,000 in Competitive Grants for State Assessments for the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). This funding will allow ISBE to create innovative assessments for Spanish language arts students in grades 9 and 10, as well as significantly expand educator professional learning and parent/student engagement activities. "Today's students are tomorrow's future - it is critical t… Continue Reading
09.09.22
Durbin, Duckworth Announce More Than $44 Million For Head Start Programs In Illinois
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $44,270,775 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants to support Head Start services for children under the age of five in receiving wrap-around support in early learning and development. "Head Start and Early Head Start programs grant our children equal access to achieving their full potential," said Durbin. "This significant investment will help build th… Continue Reading
09.07.22
Durbin Introduces Legislation To Improve Accountability Of Foreign Medical Schools Receiving Federal Student Aid
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation that would protect students and taxpayers by closing a loophole that gives special treatment to a small number of overseas medical schools. The Foreign Medical School Accountability Fairness Act would require all medical schools outside of the U.S. and Canada to meet the same minimum requirements to receive Title IV student aid dollars. Currently, some overseas medical schools are exempt from meeting the min… Continue Reading
08.30.22
Durbin Statement On Department Of Education's Move To Approve $1.5 Billion Borrower Defense Group Discharge For Former Westwood College Students
SPRINGFIELD - U.S Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement on the U.S. Department of Education's announcement that the Department has approved $1.5 billion in full loan discharges for 79,000 borrowers regardless of whether the borrower submitted an individual borrower defense application. Of the 79,000 claims discharged, 12,650 belonged to Illinois student borrowers, amounting to $228.2 million in relief. "After almost ten years of urging multiple Administr… Continue Reading
08.24.22
Durbin Releases Statement On President Biden's Announcement To Eliminate $10,000 In Student Loans
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after President Joe Biden announced his Administration's plan to eliminate $10,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year and to extend the student loan payment freeze until December 31: "Tens of millions of Americans are plagued by student loan debt in pursuit of a quality education. Today's announcement by President Biden is a crucial step to enable low- and m… Continue Reading
08.05.22
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $4.9 Million For Head Start Programs In Illinois
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $4,957,465 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants to support Head Start services for children under the age of five in receiving wrap-around support in early learning and development. The two recipients of these grants are Community Action Agency for McHenry County, Inc., receiving $2,919,470, and Proviso Leyden Council for Community Actions, Inc., re… Continue Reading
07.21.22
Durbin, Duckworth Announce $46.8 Million For Head Start Programs In Illinois
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $46,851,870 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants to support Head Start services for children under the age of five in receiving wrap-around support in early learning and development. "This federal investment will be put toward building the foundation for lifelong success for children by supporting their early learning, health, and family well-being… Continue Reading
06.23.22
Durbin Statement On Department Of Education Settlement In Sweet v. Cardona
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement on the U.S. Department of Education reaching a settlement in Sweet v. Cardona, formerly Sweet v. DeVos, that will approve the borrower defense applications of roughly 200,000 students whose claims have been stalled, totaling $6 billion in relief: "Under the Trump Administration, former Secretary DeVos cruelly ignored the pleas of students defrauded by schools like Westwood College and left them to … Continue Reading
06.13.22
In Speech On Senate Floor, Durbin Calls For Group Discharge Of Student Loans For Those Defrauded By Westwood College
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) took to the Senate floor to deliver a speech calling on the Department of Education to finally forgive the outstanding federal student loans of borrowers who were enrolled in Westwood College's fraudulent criminal justice program. Durbin's call to action comes after the Department wiped away $5.8 billion in student debt for borrowers who attended any campus owned by Corinthian Colleges, regardless if they applied for relief. "West… Continue Reading
06.13.22
Durbin, Duckworth Urge Illinois School District To Apply For EPA Clean School Bus Program
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today sent a letter to more than 300 Illinois school district administrators to inform them that their districts are eligible to participate in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean School Bus Program (CSBP). The program, a $5 billion effort established under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aims to convert the nation's school bus fleets to low- and zero-emission ve… Continue Reading
06.09.22
Durbin Again Urges Cardona To Grant Borrower Defense Discharges For Illinois Westwood College Students Following Corinthian College Student Loan Discharge
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona urging him to issue widespread federal student loan debt relief to the approximately 3,600 Illinois students who were defrauded by Westwood College. Referencing the Department of Education's recent move to provide $6 billion in relief to student borrowers who attended Corinthian Colleges or Marinello Schools of Beauty regardless of whether students applied for borrower def… Continue Reading
06.08.22
In Speech On Senate Floor, Durbin Applauds Department Of Education For Group Discharge Of Student Loans For Borrowers Who Attended Now-Shuttered Corinthian Colleges
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) delivered a speech on the Senator floor applauding the Department of Education's recent decision to discharge all remaining federal student loans for those who attended any campus owned or run by the predatory Corinthian Colleges. In April 2015, after Corinthian abruptly closed all of its schools, Durbin first urged the Department to issue widespread relief as he stood in front of a Corinthian-operated school in Chicago with then-Illinois… Continue Reading