The United States Student Association, the country’s oldest and largest student-led organization, represents over 4.5 million students at over 400 campuses across the nation. We work to develop current and future leaders and amplify the student voice at the local, state, and national levels by mobilizing grassroots power to win concrete victories on student issues.
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The Student Scoop: USSA's Blog
Dear DEA, WTHeck is an Ebonic Translator? - August 25, 2010
By Tiffany Loftin, USSA National People of Color Student Coalition Chair
It has come to my attention that the DEA has been contacting
translation companies to find 9 professional ebonic translators. Apparently the DEA is having trouble understanding drug dealers when
they tap into their phone calls?
H. Samy Alim, a Stanford linguistics professor who specializes in
black language and hip-hop culture, said he thought the hiring effort
was a joke when he first heard about it, but that it highlights a
serious issue.
Click here to read more...
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Students are Voting Again to Build a Movement - August 25, 2010
By Lindsay McCluskey, USSA President
Students are voting again in 2010 because we're building a movement.
This movement did not begin with the 2008 vote campaign and it
certainly did not end with the election of Barack Obama. It is a
movement to make education a right and has been a driving force behind
social progress for decades. We are fortunate enough to be organizing
in a time of great opportunity and have capitalized on the leadership
of President Obama and members of Congress. The passage of student
financial aid reform, the biggest investment in higher education since
the GI bill, is a testament to this. However, we are simply passing
through one era of this movement and have a responsibility as
organizers to build upon past victories. We are voting again, not just
to elect members of Congress who will champion higher education causes,
but also to construct a more perfect framework of student activism that
will lead to students winning on issues directly affecting young people.
Click here to read more...
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StudentsVOTE! 2010 Launched! - August 23, 2010
Today, USSA launched the StudentsVOTE! 2010 website! Click here to see how you can be a part of the grassroots movement to elect a Congress that will fight for college access and affordability!
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Vigilance in the Higher Ed Community - August 16, 2010
By Lindsay McCluskey, USSA President & Victor Sanchez, USSA VP
President Obama has set a noble goal of having the United States lead
the world in college graduation rates by 2020. It is an aim that will
empower individuals and strengthen the country as a whole, but it
certainly won't be easy. Our current graduation rates are far behind
our international competitors and we will be hard pressed to meet our
own college-educated workforce capacity by the end of the decade.
However, a united education community that invests in college access,
degree quality, and workforce readiness will no doubt succeed in this
effort. It will take us all, public and private four-year
institutions, community and technical colleges, trade schools, and
for-profit career colleges to once again place the United States
paramount in education.
Click here to read more...
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A Bittersweet Victory - August 10, 2010
Today,
the House of Representatives passed HR 1586 with a $26 billion state
aid amendment that funds teacher jobs and state Medicaid spending. The
legislation, which passed the Senate by a vote of 61-38 on August 8,
spends $10 billion on saving an estimated 140,000 K-12 education jobs. Additionally, states will only receive said funding if they maintain higher education spending levels from fiscal year 2009. Particularly cash-strapped states will be allowed to maintain spending levels from fiscal year 2006.
Click here to read more...
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Students in Need of Action and Vision - August 10, 2010
It read “Students Over Banks.”
The headline on the Obama Administration’s website simply defined a
priority the president has long chided as one of the utmost important
to this country’s future. Regardless, for students, the situation at
our colleges and universities across the country has long been
untenable.
Click here to read more...
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USSA Stands in Solidarity with AFL-CIO on DREAM Act - August 9, 2010
The United States Student Association (USSA), the nation’s oldest and
largest student organization, applauds the AFL-CIO for its decision to
call on Congress to pass the Development, Relief, and Education for
Alien Minors (DREAM) Act as a down payment on comprehensive immigration
reform.
Click here to read more...
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Students set new Tone, Leadership for the Student Movement - July 29, 2010
Nearly 200 college student organizers and leaders assembled at the
University of California, Los Angeles last week for the United States
Student Association’s (USSA) 63rd annual National Student Congress. Members
of the nation’s oldest, largest, and most inclusive student
organization met to elect the 2010 – 2011 USSA President and Vice
President, Board of Directors, and pass the national agenda for
students.
Click here to read more...
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Students Respond to Financial Reform Legislation - July 28, 2010
The financial collapse of 2008 had rippling effects across America,
including on college students. Young people, who were already victim to
decades of higher education divestment, saw higher education budgets
slashed by state legislatures and tuition and fees soar. With these higher costs and dwindling financial aid, student debt has risen to nearly $25,000 for the average borrower. The
federal government took steps to mitigate these financial burdens by
passing historic student aid reform last spring, ushering in a new era
of federal investment in college students. Private lenders, however, still needed strengthened regulation.
Click here to read more...
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Students Call for Passage of Financial Reform in the Senate - July 7, 2010
The United States Student Association (USSA), representing over four million college and university students nationwide, applauds Senator Chris Dodd, Representative Barney Frank, and all those who having worked diligently on the historic Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Members of Congress have recognized the importance of including regulation over private loans, the ‘wild west’ of student lending, in their efforts to stabilize the nation’s financial framework.
Click here to read more...
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Students Respond to Pres. Obama's Immigration Reform Speech with a Call to Pass the DREAM Act - July 2, 2010
"We can be a nation of laws and immigrations," declared President Obama at yesterday’s immigration reform speech. He spoke of America attracting the best and the brightest from across the globe and the moral imperative to fix our broken immigration system. While the numerous issues hindering immigration reform were eloquently outlined, the president’s speech lacked an action plan for enacting reform legislation. The conspicuous absence of a legislative strategy was disappointing, and the reality is setting in that comprehensive immigration reform will most likely not happen this summer.
Click here to read more...
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Is College only for the Rich? - June 30, 2010
Chief among America's most revered ideals is that an education can
propel anyone from the depths of destitution to the skies of
achievement. This, along with socioeconomic reason, is why President
Obama boldly announced in his first State of the Union address that the
United States would once again lead the world in college graduation
rates by 2020. Only three months later, the president took a major step
forward in meeting this goal by signing historic student aid reform
into law, investing about $40 billion in need-based federal financial
aid over the next decade. The Georgetown Center for Education and
Workforce recently concluded
that the president's goal will require about $110 billion more from
state governments, an unlikely feet considering over 30 states are
implementing higher education budget cuts next fiscal year.
Click here to read more...
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From Facebook to Government: Can Millennials Increase Government Popularity?
