News Releases

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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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 | Food

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES NEW TAXPAYER GIVEAWAYS TO BIG AG

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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.