Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Guthrie for his work on this important legislation.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1635, the Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act.

As the father of 4 and grandfather of 12, with 1 on the way, I understand the anxiety that rising education costs can have on our American families.

Students go to school to get a job, not to wrangle with the Federal Government over student loans. With student loan debt climbing to over $1.5 trillion nationwide, we must do more to ensure students are aware of the financial obligations of accepting a Federal student loan.

With over 40 years of business experience, I have applied for loans. I have provided a business plan and proof of performance, showing that I can repay those loans. And, over time, I have done just that.

However, in education, many students and families are not receiving the necessary information about their loans and grants in order to make responsible financial choices. I want students and families to clearly understand that just because the Federal Government will give you a loan, you do not have to take the full amount. The less in loans you take out, the less you have to pay back.

H.R. 1635 addresses the lack of information provided for those taking out student loans. Students and families will now receive counseling every year and detailed loan information so that students have sound decisionmaking tools when it comes to borrowing and repaying student loans.

As cosponsor of H.R. 1635, I was also proud to introduce an amendment that will allow any eligible institution to provide additional information and counseling services to Federal student aid recipients.

In my district, hardly a day goes by that I don't run into a former student who asks me: What am I going to do about this student loan debt? And once I discover the consequences of their decisions, it makes me more supportive of this legislation, so that these young people can understand exactly what they are getting into.

We owe it to these American students to pass the legislation before us today, and I hope that my colleagues will join me in supporting H.R. 1635.
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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1635 makes important improvements to ensure that the Department of Education is doing its job when offering loans to our students for their continued education.

Too many young people are coming out of school with a mountain of student loan debt without having understood the full implications of accepting such debt in the first place. Students receiving annual counseling about the obligations of Federal student loans is long overdue.

However, it is imperative that institutions of higher education do their part to ensure that students consider Federal student loans as a last resort. In fact, one of the questions that I asked in a committee hearing is: Does anyone encourage students to work their way through college anymore?

My amendment provides that nothing prohibits institutions from providing additional financial counseling above what is already included in the bill.

When it comes to government-backed loans, the goal of every higher education institution should be to guarantee the success of their students rather than burdening them with debt they cannot repay.

Many institutions are taking steps in the right direction to contain costs, but the higher education community needs to step it up to lower costs to ensure that our students are not graduating with an unreasonable amount of debt and without a plan to pay it back.

The purpose of my amendment is to send a signal to the university system that it should do more than the minimum required by law to ensure students receive meaningful financial counseling.

Mr. Chairman, I urge passage of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman from Oregon for her support of this important amendment. I urge passage of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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