Students
depart Metropark station, Iselin, on Amtrak train #185 at 8:45 a.m.

Briefing
lunch at noon, Hall of States
Building, 444 North Capitol St., N.W., Washington, D.C.;

Capitol Hill meetings from 1 p.m.
to 5 p.m. with New Jersey legislators and their staff members.

A group of
Rutgers students will meet with federal lawmakers on Capitol Hill about an
issue of great importance for themselves
and their peers: providing ample funding for federal student aid programs that help
thousands of Rutgers students finance their education.

This year, students will focus on the need to
keep federally subsidized loans affordable by freezing interest rates at 3.4
percent, averting a scheduled doubling of that rate. The freeze would keep
interest payments affordable for the 28,800 Rutgers students who rely on these loans
to help make college possible. The students will also urge lawmakers to fund the
maximum Pell grants at $5,635 in fiscal year 2013. More than 16,000 Rutgers
students – nearly one in three undergraduates – rely on Pell Grants to fund
their education.

The
students will also advocate for doubling federally supported work-study jobs
over the next five years and speak out against further cuts to aid programs. Federal
budget legislation over the past several years has cut student aid programs by
approximately $30 billion. The students will be urging legislators not to
balance the budget on the backs of students.