Back in Washington, hundreds of students rallied on Capitol Hill Tuesday in support of a pending congressional measure to overhaul student loans. The Senate is gearing up to vote on whether to end the role of private banks in federally backed student loans and make the government the primary lender. Tens of billions of dollars in savings from the measure would be diverted into education grants. The House approved the overhaul as part of the healthcare package now before the Senate. Private lenders have launched an intensified lobbying effort to defeat the measure and send it back to the House. In other education news, student protesters have also converged in Washington this week to call for passage of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The DREAM Act would grant permanent citizenship to undocumented workers’ children if they completed two years of college, trade school or military service. United States Student Association President Gregory Cendana said the measure would further the cause of making education a fundamental right.

Gregory Cendana: “This legislation, which USSA has fought for since its inception in 2001, would bring the United States one step closer to making education a fundamental right in this country by throwing open the college doors to undocumented students.”

A student group in Florida recently began a 1,500-mile walk to Washington in an effort to raise awareness about the DREAM Act.