On Saturday, Rep. Pete Aguilar (CA-31) hosted a student loan transfer information session and workshop for students who were affected by the recent closing of Everest College. Rep. Aguilar, staff members from his office, and officials from San Bernardino Valley College and the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education met with students and parents. Rep. Aguilar’s office coordinated the workshop to help connect students with resources and information about dealing with their student loans and finishing their education after Everest College suddenly shut down. 

One of Rep. Aguilar’s top priorities in Congress is college affordability. He recently cosponsored two important bills to address this crisis. The first is the PRO Students Act (Protections and Regulations for Our Students), which was introduced by Rep. Takano (CA-41) and will set up accountability measures for for-profit colleges like Everest and strengthen whistleblower protections for students and faculty. The other bill is the America’s College Promise Act, which would make two years of community college free and put low-income students on the road to achieving a four-year college degree. Only weeks after taking office in January, Rep. Aguilar cosponsored the All-Year ACCESS Act, which restores full-year Pell Grants for full-time and part-time students to cover the costs of summer and winter break classes.

Doug Saunders from the San Bernardino County Sun covered Saturday’s event—it can be read in full here.