Hooman Hedayati, a government and Middle Eastern studies senior at the University of Texas-Austin, just published an op-ed in the Daily Texan in support of cutting wasteful subsidies to student loan companies and using the savings to make college more affordable and accessible.

 Here is an excerpt:

Under the current plan, Sallie Mae and other student loan companies are getting rich from wasteful — but totally legal — government subsidies. A few weeks before the start of this semester’s classes, the U.S. Department of Education’s inspector general released a report claiming that Nellie Mae, a subsidiary of loan giant Sallie Mae, improperly received $22.3 million in taxpayer subsidies.
 
Luckily, there is now a plan in Congress, originally proposed by Obama, that would end wasteful subsidies to student loan companies by lending directly to students, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will save taxpayers $87 billion over 10 years. The loan companies have already spent millions of dollars lobbying against this reform. 

Hooman is a member of Campus Progress, and receives an Organizing Grant for his work with the Students Against the Death Penalty.

You can learn more about current efforts to make college affordable--and take action—at Student Over Banks.