Broken Promises, Higher Debt

Here are the facts:

• The president has broken his campaign promise to raise Pell grants, the basic government scholarship program, to help cover rising costs
• Conservative lawmakers in Congress cut $12 billion this year from the student loan program — even while interest rates were hiked on college loans, and billions in tax giveaways were lavished on the wealthiest Americans.
• The average graduate of a four-year college will depart with $23,600 in student loans and $2,000 in credit card debt.
• The government could save $7 on every $100 in loans simply by providing loans to students directly. But bankers have lobbied successfully to remain the middle men, profiting from administering government guaranteed student loans. They lavished $3.5 million in campaign contributions on legislators since 2004 — over three-fourths to the Republican majority.