Monday, June 22, 2009

Cuomo Decides What to Do With Student Loan Blood Money: Lame

So a couple of years ago, NY Att'y General Andrew Cuomo pursued this huge crackdown on student lenders and college financial aid officers for improper business relationships and high-pressure marketing tactics. Total settlement payments collected: $13 million.

New York State is finally announcing what he's going to do with the cash: (1) create a "Web-based, live-operator staffed student loan center" to help students and parents choose the best loan options and minimize loan debt, and (2) produce a campaign of public service announcements about financing a college education, with an emphasis on avoiding loan debt.

Ok, another source of independent, easily accessible information for navigating the byzantine financial aid system is not a bad idea. Perhaps the Project on Student Debt could expand its excellent efforts along these lines into call-center model.

But PSAs? Really? Do students or families need to see TV commercials about the evils of loans?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Apparently they do Anya. Obviously our President believes so since he's proposed a new federal agency to do nothing more than provide that type of information to people. If our tax dollars are going toward protecting people from their own poor personal financial reasoning, what harm can come from these PSA's?