The Biden administration released its $1.8 trillion American Families Plan Wednesday that would increase the maximum Pell Grant award by $1,400. This is a 20 percent increase to the Pell Grant, which, at its current level, covers 28 percent of an average four-year college tuition.
According to reports ahead of a global climate summit in Washington, President Joe Biden will announce Thursday that the United States will reduce global warming emissions 50 percent by 2030 as part of America’s commitments under the newly rejoined Paris climate accords. This nearly doubles the target agreed to in 2015 by the Obama administration. The reductions will hinge on an accelerated transition to carbon-free electricity and the phase out of gas-powered vehicles.
Senators from the University of Florida’s student government association unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday evening calling for the university to generate 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2040.
The Student PIRGs, a student environmental organizing group, is partnering with local organizations, student governments and elected officials to host in-person and virtual actions to celebrate Youth Earth Week, a national effort of more than 250 actions around the country to protect the environment, April 19-23.
In a win for student choice and textbook affordability, we applaud University of Central Florida’s decision to maintain the opt-in structure for the “First Day” textbooks program through Barnes and Noble.
WASHINGTON—Today, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) reintroduced the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, the most comprehensive bill to address the plastic pollution crisis ever introduced in Congress. The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021 expands and improves upon an earlier version of the bill utilizing proven solutions to protect impacted communities, reform our broken recycling system, and shift the financial burden of waste management off of municipalities and taxpayers to where it belongs: the producers of plastic waste.
RICHMOND, Va — Gov. Ralph Northam announced this morning Executive Order 77 which will eliminate the use of disposable plastic bags and single-use foodware at all state agencies within 120 days, and phase out the use of other single-use plastics in the state agencies and public universities by 2025. It also directs the Secretary to develop recommendations for reducing solid waste and diverting waste from landfills through composting, reuse, and other strategies.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Education is taking executive action to improve its borrower defense program. That move will result in about $1 billion in full student loan forgiveness for 72,000 Americans who were defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges.
Some student loan servicers take advantage of borrowers through unfair, predatory and even illegal lending methods. It’s a problem MASSPIRG and our partners have been working to solve for years — and our efforts were rewarded this past January, when the Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights was passed by the Legislature and then signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker. Nearly 1 million student borrowers across the commonwealth now have the protections they deserve against deceptive lending practices.
Spring is here! As the weather gets warmer, many of us may think back to a year when everything was normal and we could travel and have fun with our friends and family. Although this year is different, we can… Read more