On Wednesday, Rep. George Miller (CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, introduced the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which will eliminate wasteful subsidies to student loan companies and use the $87 billion in savings on a bold policy package to make college more affordable and accessible for low and middle income families.

Read an op-ed by Chairman Miller from Politico to learn more and check out Campus Progress' full statement below. Then visit Students Over Banks to learn how you can take action today!

Campus Progress Statement:

This morning, Rep. George Miller (CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, introduced the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which will eliminate wasteful subsidies to student loan companies and use the $87 billion in savings on a bold policy package to make college more affordable and accessible for low and middle income families. The legislation closely follows a proposal by President Obama, despite fierce opposition from the student loan industry, and represents the largest ever investment in higher education.

Campus Progress has launched a new campaign Students Over Banks (studentsoverbanks.org) to support passage of this legislation. In addition to providing young people information about the proposals, the website offers profiles of some of the worst actors in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), ways to take action online, and the latest news on college affordability issues.

Last week, as part of the 2009 Campus Progress National Conference, Campus Progress also partnered with USPIRG and other groups to bring one hundred people to the Capitol to meet with lawmakers on this and other economic issues affecting young people. We believe that the choice is clear: We can either increase opportunities for young people and displaced workers and build the American workforce for a 21st century economy, or we can cater to special interests trying to hold on to wasteful federal subsidies. Campus Progress commends Chairman Miller and other lawmakers who are standing against special interests in order to expand educational opportunity.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act would:

• Invest $40 billion to increase the maximum Pell grant award to $5,550 by 2010, and $6,900 by 2019. It will also pave the way to tie the maximum award level to inflation plus 1%.

• Invest in community colleges and historically black colleges and universities, as well as efforts to improve college access and completion rates.

• Strengthen the Perkins loan program to help students avoid risky private loans.

• Simplify the FASFA.

• Provide $10 billion in deficit reduction.

• Originate all future loans through the Direct Loan program, which will create $87 billion in savings over ten years.