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News Release | TexPIRG | Higher Ed

Doubling Student Debt Rates to Cost Texas Students $400 Million

Higher education advocates released new data today showing that an anticipated increase in the student loan interest rate would cost Texas students $400 million per year. The increase would affect federally subsidized Stafford loans, which are provided to almost 7.5 million low and moderate-income students nationwide each year. If Congress does nothing, then beginning on July 1st, the interest rate will double from 3.4% to 6.8% on new student loans.

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Report | TexPIRG | Higher Ed

Doubling Student Debt Rates to Cost Texas Students $400 Million

Higher education advocates released new data today showing that an anticipated increase in the student loan interest rate would cost Texas students $400 million per year. The increase would affect federally subsidized Stafford loans, which are provided to almost 7.5 million low and moderate-income students nationwide each year. If Congress does nothing, then beginning on July 1st, the interest rate will double from 3.4% to 6.8% on new student loans.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Higher Ed

The New Student Battle Cry: Don't Double My Rate! | Melissa Cubria

The media and the country are just waking up to the alarming fact that unless Congress acts by July 1, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Congress must not let that happen.

> Keep Reading
Report | TexPIRG | Higher Ed

The Cost of College Will Soar if Interest Rates Allowed to Double

More than 7 million students and their families rely on Subsidized Stafford Loans to help pay for college. The loans distributed by the U.S. Department of Education currently hold an interest rate of 3.4 percent. But that rate is set to double if Congress fails to act by July 1, 2012.

> Keep Reading

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News Release | TexPIRG | Higher Ed

Doubling Student Debt Rates to Cost Texas Students $400 Million

Higher education advocates released new data today showing that an anticipated increase in the student loan interest rate would cost Texas students $400 million per year. The increase would affect federally subsidized Stafford loans, which are provided to almost 7.5 million low and moderate-income students nationwide each year. If Congress does nothing, then beginning on July 1st, the interest rate will double from 3.4% to 6.8% on new student loans.

> Keep Reading
News Release | TexPIRG | Higher Ed

Interest Rate Hike Threatens College Affordability, Will Lead to 20% Increases in Cost of College Next Year

Today, TexPIRG, the Young Invincibles, the Center for American Progress, and Campus Progress released a joint report on the looming threat of a major hike in the federal student loan interest rate. If Congress fails to act by July 1, the interest rate for Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan will double, rising to 6.8 percent. 7.4 million American students will see the interest rates on their student loans double, effectively raising the average cost of college by over $1,000 for millions of students and their families.

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News Release | TexPIRG | Budget

Offshore Tax Havens Cost Average Texas Taxpayers $467 a Year, Each Texas Small Business $2,085

With tax day approaching, a new TexPIRG study, Picking Up the Tab: Average Citizens and Small Businesses Pay the Price for Offshore Tax Havens, found that the average Texas taxpayer in 2011 would have to shoulder an extra $467 tax burden to make up for revenue lost from corporations and wealthy individuals shifting income to offshore tax havens. The report additionally found that the average additional tax burden shouldered by Texas small businesses added up to $2085 due to the “offshoring” of profits by large corporations.

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News Release | TexPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

New Report: Long-Term Drop in How Much People Drive, Youth Desire More Transportation Options

A new report released today by the Texas Public Interest Research Group (TexPIRG) Education Fund and Frontier Group demonstrates that Americans have been driving less since the middle of last decade.

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Result | Consumer Protection

KIDS’ SCHOOL LUNCHES NOW SAFER

For years, America’s schoolchildren have been eating beef, chicken and other foods that would have been rejected as substandard even by fast food chains. Thanks in part to our advocacy, the U.S.D.A. has stopped buying such low-quality meat for school lunches.

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Result | Health Care

Young People Now Covered

This year, the federal health care reforms that TexPIRG worked to win have started to pay off for young people. In the past, teens saw their premiums soar or were denied coverage when they turned 19, even if they’d been insured their whole lives. Now, they can remain on their parents’ plans until age 26. 

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Report | TexPIRG | Higher Ed

Doubling Student Debt Rates to Cost Texas Students $400 Million

Higher education advocates released new data today showing that an anticipated increase in the student loan interest rate would cost Texas students $400 million per year. The increase would affect federally subsidized Stafford loans, which are provided to almost 7.5 million low and moderate-income students nationwide each year. If Congress does nothing, then beginning on July 1st, the interest rate will double from 3.4% to 6.8% on new student loans.

> Keep Reading
Report | TexPIRG | Higher Ed

The Cost of College Will Soar if Interest Rates Allowed to Double

More than 7 million students and their families rely on Subsidized Stafford Loans to help pay for college. The loans distributed by the U.S. Department of Education currently hold an interest rate of 3.4 percent. But that rate is set to double if Congress fails to act by July 1, 2012.

> Keep Reading
Report | TexPIRG | Budget

Picking Up the Tab

Some U.S.-based multinational firms or individuals avoid paying U.S. taxes by transferring their earnings to countries with minimal or no taxes. These tax havens users benefit from their access to America’s markets, workforce, infrastructure and security; but they pay little or nothing for it—violating the basic fairness of the tax system and forcing other taxpayers to pick up the tab.

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Report | TexPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Transportation and the New Generation

From World War II until just a few years ago, the number of miles driven annually on America’s roads steadily increased. Then, at the turn of the century, something changed: Americans began driving less. By 2011, the average American was driving 6 percent fewer miles per year than in 2004.

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Report | TexPIRG | Budget

Following the Money 2012

The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy. Transparency in government spending promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption, and bolsters public confidence. In the past few years, state governments across the country have made their checkbooks transparent by creating online transparency portals.

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Blog Post | Higher Ed

The New Student Battle Cry: Don't Double My Rate! | Melissa Cubria

The media and the country are just waking up to the alarming fact that unless Congress acts by July 1, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Congress must not let that happen.

> Keep Reading

Tools & Resources

  • Your Tax Dollars Become Twinkies
    Billions of taxpayer dollars have subsidized the ingredients in junk food. We're calling on Congress to end agribusiness handouts.
    Learn more
    Take Action
  • STOP TAX DODGERS
    Corporate tax avoidance cost Texans $7.8 billion last year. TexPIRG is working to close the loopholes that allow companies to avoid paying the taxes they owe.
    Learn more
    Take Action
  • BEAT HIGH BANK FEES
    Consumers can change the way big banks do business, and fortunately, you can still find many low fee and low cost options.
    Learn more
    GET TIPS
  • Making The Grade
    Find out how our state stacks up in reforming our health care system and learn more about health insurance exchanges.
    Learn more
    Get the report

Priority Action

The CUT Loopholes Act would put an end to the price and profit shifting that allows publicly traded companies to engage in pervasive tax avoidance.

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