UW-Madison student Hannah Kinsella lobbied U.S. Sen.Tammy Baldwin’s, D-Wis., office Sept. 19, pushing for greater transparency on how schools and students enter into agreements with financial institutions.
Kinsella is chair of the Great Lakes Region of the United States Student Association, the country’s oldest and largest national student-led organization. USSA was established to amplify students’ voices at the local, state and national levels by mobilizing grassroots power on student affairs, according to the group’s website.
The USSA lobbied members of Congress, including Baldwin, about the Higher Education Act, which was due to be reauthorized in 2013. The Higher Education Act strengthens educational resources in higher education and provides financial assistance to students. Students can incur over $500 in campus banking fees each year, adding up to thousands of dollars across their college experience, as reported by Consumer Reports in August.
Baldwin is on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Labor, and Pensions and has said that she is a strong advocate for college affordability and in the past week has introduced two bills to address student debt.
“As leaders, it is our responsibility to stand up for students and to demand transparency from financial institutions and our universities,” Kinsella said in a statement. “Through today’s advocacy, we hope that members of Congress and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hears the student voice loud and clear—our generation’s interests will not be sold to the highest bidder.”
Some colleges argue contracts with financial institutions are beneficial, but these costly fees have been overlooked, Kinsella said in the statement.
Last fall, the Associated Students of Madison terminated its membership with the USSA because of partisan issues, including abortion and military involvement. The USSA requested, and Student Council approved, a reassessment of its membership if the organization disassociated itself from the previous issues.
