Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Education
Durbin, Reed, Warren: Student Loan Debt Is Hurting America's Middle Class
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today vowed to do more to address America's exploding student loan debt crisis that is reducing homeownership, jeopardizing retirement security, limiting the formation of small businesses, and leading to more income inequality in this country. On a conference call with reporters, the three Senators discussed the higher education priorities they will focus on next year to help working families bet… Continue Reading
12.17.13
Durbin Applaud CFPB'S Call for Transparency Regarding Campus Debit Card Programs
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today commended the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) call for financial institutions to publicly disclose agreements with colleges and universities to market financial products to students, including debit, prepaid, and other products. Durbin and U.S. Representative George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, have been leaders in calling attention to this issue, and submitted a … Continue Reading
12.13.13
Durbin Introduces Legislation to Ensure All Foreign Medical Schools are Held to Same Standards
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation that would close a loophole that has given special treatment to a small number of medical schools in the Caribbean that, last year, took in more than $450 million in U.S. Department of Education Title IV funding. Durbin's Foreign Medical School Accountability Fairness Act would require five Caribbean medical schools - four of which are for-profit institutions - to meet the same minimum requirements that every othe… Continue Reading
12.11.13
Durbin, Warren, Boxer, Reed Introduce Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was joined by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Jack Reed (D-RI) today in introducing legislation to ensure struggling student loan borrowers are treated fairly and understand the full range of repayment options and resources available to them. "Student loan debt has tripled over the last decade," Durbin said. "With student loan debt far outpacing the rise in starting salaries, many borrowers find that despite … Continue Reading
12.05.13
Durbin Visits Carl Sandburg Community College to Discuss Closing "Skills Gap"
[GALESBURG, IL] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited Carl Sandburg Community College (CSCC) today to discuss legislation he introduced to help community colleges train workers for high-needs technical jobs, many of which are currently going unfilled due to a lack of qualified employees in the workforce. Durbin toured labs and met with students in CSCC's medical imaging, electrical, and diesel programs. He also talked with representatives from the BNSF Railroad, which has partnered with CS… Continue Reading
12.03.13
Durbin Statement on the CFPB's Announcement It Will Begin Overseeing Nonbank Student Loan Servicers
[CHICAGO] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on today's announcement by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that it would begin supervising nonbank student loan servicers with more than one million accounts: "Today's announcement by the CFPB ensures that millions more student loan borrowers will enjoy the strong consumer protections that come with the scrutiny of this vital agency. Large loan servicers operating outside the banking system will now… Continue Reading
12.03.13
Durbin Introduces Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights
[CHICAGO] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that when the Senate reconvenes next week he and U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) will introduce legislation to ensure struggling student loan borrowers understand the full range of repayment options and resources available to them and are treated fairly by the financial institutions servicing their loans. "Student loan debt has tripled over the last decade with more than 40 million borrowers owing abou… Continue Reading
11.20.13
Durbin Meets With University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise to Discuss Funding and Higher Education Issues
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) met today with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Phyllis Wise to discuss the importance of funding student research and innovation. Chancellor Wise was in Washington, DC with a group of national research university leaders, which included Association of Public and Land-grant Universities President Peter McPherson and Association of American Universities President Hunter Rawlings. A photo of today's meeting is available here. … Continue Reading
11.14.13
Durbin, Franken Introduce Legislation to Help Make College Textbooks More Affordable
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Al Franken (D-MN) today introduced legislation designed to help students manage costs by making high quality textbooks easily accessible to students, professors and the public for free. This bill, known as the Affordable College Textbook Act, would create a competitive grant program for institutions of higher education, working with professors and other organizations, to create and expand the use of textbooks that can be made available onl… Continue Reading
11.13.13
Durbin-Kirk Bill to Protect Schoolchildren with Allergies Signed Into Law by President Obama
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) celebrated today as President Barack Obama signed into law their bipartisan legislation to encourage schools across the country to maintain access to critical life-saving medication for children with food and other allergies. The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act will encourage states across the nation to improve school access to epinephrine auto-injectors to be used if students have life threatening … Continue Reading
11.06.13
Durbin, Harkin, Cohen: Congress Should End Loophole That Encourages For-Profit Colleges To Target Veterans & Servicemembers
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP), today introduced legislation in the Senate that would help put an end to the for-profit industry's predatory marketing campaigns and aggressive recruiting of veterans, servicemembers and their families. The Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers (POST) Act, which U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) will introduce in the Hou… Continue Reading
09.25.13
Durbin Meets with U of I President Bob Easter to Discuss Research Funding and Higher Education Issues
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) met yesterday with University of Illinois President Robert Easter to discuss comprehensive immigration reform and the importance of funding student research and innovation. "The University of Illinois is a great institution that plays an important economic and education role for students from Illinois and across the world," Durbin said. "I was pleased to meet with President Easter today. We agree that investing in our students and preparing … Continue Reading
09.25.13
Durbin: NFL, NHL, NBA, US Soccer, NCAA Endorse Concussion Safety Bill
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - After receiving endorsements from six national professional and collegiate sports organizations, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation to strengthen K-12 schools' procedures for preventing, detecting, and treating student-athletes who suffer concussions while competing. The National Federation of State High School Associations estimates that about 140,000 students playing high school sports suffer concussions every year though many go unreported. … Continue Reading
09.23.13
Durbin Announces $1.4 Million in Funding to Local Colleges to Bridge Supply Chain Management Skills Gap
[CHICAGO] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that William Rainey Harper College and Northwestern University have received a combined $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor supporting a new initiative to train workers for high-demand jobs in the fast-growing, high-need field of supply chain management. The schools are part of a multistate group of twelve colleges working to establish the Leveraging, Integrating, Networking, Coordinating Supplies (LINCS) in Supply Cha… Continue Reading
09.18.13
Durbin meets with University of Illinois - Chicago Student Trustees
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) met today with the student representatives to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees outside the Capitol building. During the meeting, the group discussed issues in higher education including rising college costs and federal student aid. A photo of today's meeting is available here. "Investing in our students and preparing them for the jobs of tomorrow's global economy must be one of our highest priorities," Durbin said. "I was pleased … Continue Reading
09.10.13
Durbin to Duncan: Time to Crack Down on For-Profit Medical Schools That Use Offshore Loophole
[WASHINGTON, DC] - In a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) raised the alarm about foreign medical schools that are not accredited by approved U.S. accrediting bodies, but are still eligible for federal Title IV funds due to a 1992 loophole that allowed a small number of these schools to qualify for federal funding under lower standards than other foreign medical schools. An investigative report that appeared today in Bloomberg Markets Magazine highligh… Continue Reading
07.31.13
Durbin Statement on House Passage of Bill to Lower Rates for All Students
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the House passed a bipartisan bill to lower interest rates for 100% of borrowers who have taken out, or will take out, a new federal student loan after July 1, 2013. "This agreement will ensure students loan rates will fall below the 6.8 percent rate that kicked in on July 1," said Senator Durbin. "Once again we've shown that when both sides work together, we can reach fair an… Continue Reading
07.30.13
Durbin, Duckworth: Change Needed to Help Servicemembers with Student Loan Assistance Programs
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - With average student loan debt for active-duty servicemembers at more than $25,000, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today introduced a bill that would fix a provision in the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) - created in 1940 - that unintentionally discourages servicemembers from consolidating or refinancing pre-service student loans. For servicemembers with Perkins or Federal Family Education Loans, consolidation of pre-s… Continue Reading
07.26.13
Durbin Applauds Senate Passage of Bipartisan Student Loan Interest Rates Bill
[URBANA] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded the Senate's passage of a bipartisan bill to lower the interest rates of federal student loans this year for all borrowers who have taken out, or will take out, a new loan after July 1, 2013. The legislation passed on an 81-18 vote on Wednesday. "This week, an overwhelming majority of Senators from both parties came together to lower interest rates on all student loans," Durbin said. "The 380,000 Illinois undergrads getting ready t… Continue Reading
07.24.13
Durbin Statement on Passage of Bill to Lower Rates for All Students
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement today after the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to lower interest rates for 100% of borrowers who have taken out, or will take out, a new federal student loan after July 1, 2013. "This agreement will ensure students loan rates will fall below the 6.8 percent rate that kicked in on July 1," said Senator Durbin. "Once again we've shown that when both sides work together, we can reach fair … Continue Reading