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Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) joined his colleagues in passing H.R. 1635, the Empowering Students through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act, which would enhance counseling for recipients of Federal financial aid. Currently, more than $1.4 trillion of student debt is held by Americans. While financial counseling is required for students when they receive a student loan, more than 40% cannot recall receiving it.
 
H.R. 1635 would require annual loan counseling and would tailor the counseling to the borrower’s individual situation. That includes making sure all available grant, work-study, and scholarship assistance are exhausted before additional loans would be taken out. The legislation also improves exit counseling for recent graduates, requires counseling for Pell Grant recipients, and creates an online counseling tool that college institutions can use to provide financial counseling to students.
 
“Students often take out tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands, in order to graduate from college,” said Latta. “Most students are signing up for these loans as young adults and making decisions that can impact their financial well-being for years to come. This legislation will help ensure financial counseling is more informative so students can fully understand the financial implications of the student loans they are receiving and learn of alternatives that can help them pay for college.”
 
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