Grassley introduces ‘Know Before You Owe’ student loan bill

Chuck Grassley — Floor Speech 2By Bob Eschliman
Editor

 

Thursday, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the Know Before You Owe Student Loan Act, which would require student loan counseling annually before new student loans may be disbursed. It also adds several pieces of information the loan counseling must include.

Grassley introduced the bill on the floor of the Senate yesterday. During the speech, he said:

“My Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act strengthens the current student loan counseling requirements by making the counseling an annual requirement before new loans are disbursed rather than just for first time borrowers.  My bill then adds several key components to the information institutions of higher education are required to share with students as part of loan counseling.

“Under my bill, colleges would have to provide an estimate of the student’s projected loan debt-to-income ratio upon graduation.  This would be based on the starting wages for that student’s program of study and the estimated total student loan debt the student will likely take out to complete the program.  That way, students will have a real picture of the student loan payments they will face and whether they will be able to afford those payments with their likely future income.”

Scroll down to see video of Grassley’s entire speech.