Dr. Scott Noren, U.S. Senate Candidate, NY 2012, will be touring New York City this week. During his time in the Big Apple, Dr. Noren will be visiting numerous college and university campuses, such as New York University and Columbia University, to highlight what he perceives as a “key economic issue that concerns college students today” – namely, student loan interest rates and payment arrangements.
Dr. Scott Noren firmly believes that “student loan and graduate student loan interest rates are highly unreasonable.” His solution is to implement a Federal cap of 3% on all student loans, including those that are unsubsidized, along with better deferment and forbearance options. The College Cost and Reduction Access Act (CCRAA) of 2007 progressively cut fixed interest rates on newly originated subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduate students overtime from 6.0% (2008-2009) to 3.4% (2011-2012).
Unfortunately, at a time when Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards, student loan debt is set to return to 6.8% in the 2012-2013 academic year. Moreover, interest rates on unsubsidized Stafford loans and loans taken out by graduate students have not received any cuts at all, which currently remains at a fixed rate of 6.8%. Dr. Noren has proposed to extend the CCRAA rate structure through 2015 and include graduate students as well as students using unsubsidized Stafford loans and other loan programs that are government administered. With a national average student loan debt of over $25,000 for college seniors, a visit to the nation’s financial hub is as good of a place as any for the senate candidate to initiate the discussion.
The campaign is highly encouraging students to volunteer through the web site and to take control of this and other economic factors that are making it harder for younger people to graduate and be gainfully employed. Dr. Noren says, “Why would you want to pay greater than the 3% cap than I am proposing? Senator Gillibrand will not write such a bill to reduce rates this aggressively. Politicians of both sides of the aisle on all levels of government have kids in college and would likely not oppose this.”
As a democratically registered, independent candidate in the 2012 U.S. Senate race for New York, Dr. Noren runs on a more progressive platform than Senator Gillibrand that seeks create well paying jobs, to limit Wall Street’s influence in politics, lower the national deficit, and enhance individual civil liberties. Appealing to many who are dissatisfied with party politics, Dr. Noren’s third party candidacy aims to reform the Democratic Party by uniting Progressives and Independents to tackle key issues that are central to their respective constituencies’ interests such as the following: reforming campaign finance laws; indefinite detainment; reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act; funding alternative energy projects; reducing military spending; etc.
Born in Park Ridge, Illinois, Dr. Scott Noren is currently a practicing Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon in Ithaca, NY.
Dr. Scott Noren will be talking to the Brooklyn Law School Democrats on Wednesday, at 01:00 p.m.
For more information, please visit Dr. Scott Noren’s web site at: NorenForSenate.com or contact him at norenforsenate@gmail.com.
