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03/29/2024 12:46 AM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20170&cosponId=22082
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: January 12, 2017 02:08 PM
From: Senator Daylin Leach
To: All Senate members
Subject: Student Debt Reduction - The Pay it Forward, Pay it Back Act
 
According to the Institute for College Access & Success, 70% of Pennsylvanians who graduated from college in 2011 did so with student debt, the average amount of which was $30,000. Both of these numbers are higher than the national average, and I believe it is time for the legislature to act meaningfully to ensure young Pennsylvanians are not overburdened by debt as they begin their professional careers.

In the near future, I will re-introduce the Pay it Forward, Pay it Back Pennsylvania Plan (PFPB) – prior session SB 741. PFPB will create a public fund from which qualifying students can draw resources to attend a state university with no money down. After graduating and joining the workforce, participants would, over time, “pay back” the amount borrowed into the fund, interest free, through a small percentage (around 4%) of their monthly salary, eventually making the fund self-sustaining. The initial funding for PFPB will be raised by placing a competitive, temporary severance tax on the extraction of natural gas in Pennsylvania.

If you believe in giving Pennsylvania's students an option other than traditional education lenders, I hope you will join me in sponsoring this legislation.


If you have questions about this legislation, please contact my Legislative Director, Jon Tew, at jtew@pasenate.com or 610-768-4200.



Introduced as SB245