Durbin Bill Would Require All Colleges to Provide Financial Aid Counseling

Elgin Community College's financial aid counseling is credited for a 13 percent reduction in the amount of money its students have borrowed. If Sen. Dick Durbin has his way, the counseling will be mandatory in all colleges and universities.

Elgin Community College’s efforts to limit the debt load of its students won praise Friday from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who said the college district already has a six-year head start on a bill he introduced aimed at curbing the devastating impact student loans can have. Durbin has decried the nation’s mounting debt for student loans, which has grown to $1 trillion and has seen the greatest acceleration among those attending for-profit schools. Durbin said young, inexperienced adults are being exploited, pressed into making student loan decisions that will affect them for much of their lives. Consequently, they graduate with student loan debt that can be far beyond their means to pay off in a timely manner, Durbin said. Part of the problem …

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NancyC

1:49 pm on Sunday, January 13, 2013

Please Senator Durbin, believe us when we say when it comes to government, LESS is MORE. More beneficial to the people the less the likes of you we have.   more ›

Patch on Politics

Bipartisan Backing for an Obamacare Play in Illinois

Durbin and Kirk support $150 million loan for SimpleHx • Few approve of Quinn • Convicts collect $2 million in unemployment • Poll: Biggert-Foster very close • State House candidate's domestic battery case dropped with scant attention.

One aspect of Obamacare is drawing bipartisan support — at least in Illinois. Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Mark Kirk both back an outfit called SimpleHx, which wants a $150 million federal loan to establish the state's first health insurance co-op under the president's federal healthcare law. The people behind SimpleHx met at Northwestern University last year while pursuing their MBAs, according to Modern Healthcare reporter Kristen Schorsch. SimpleHx is competing against four proposals, including one backed by the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, a trade group founded in 1935 that represents more than 150 local hospitals and health care organizations. If the proposals are similar, in terms of promises to save money and …

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