{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/following-mccaskill-request-on-student-loan-counseling-education-department-changes-course", "Following McCaskill Request on Student Loan Counseling, Education Department Changes Course", "2016-12-19", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Following McCaskill Request on Student Loan Counseling, Education Department Changes Course \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Agency announces loan counseling experiment and new college completion toolkit, programs advocated by Senator following College Affordability Tour \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMonday, December 19, 2016\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill applauded the announcement by the Department of Education that it will begin a loan counseling experiment and has released a new college completion toolkit. Following her College Affordability Tour across Missouri earlier this year, McCaskill had urged the Department to reconsider a decision not to allow colleges and university to require that student borrowers complete personalized debt calculators as part of their entrance counseling.\r\n\u201cStudent debt has a serious financial impact on students, families, and our economy\u2014something I heard firsthand from so many students and educators across the state, who are worried about how their loans will affect them long after graduation,\u201d said McCaskill, a graduate of the University of Missouri. \u201cAt our urging, I\u2019m glad the Department of Education took a concrete step in helping first-time borrowers understand the real world implications of student loan debt and untying the hands of the administrators who want to help them\u2014and I\u2019m looking forward to working with them to help move this program from an experiment to a permanent tool.\u201d\r\nMcCaskill\u2019s College Affordability Tour centered on innovative, effective ways to make college more affordable and decrease the enormous amounts of loan debt that students are facing. Those goals included a boost to Pell Grants to make them available more than twice yearly, encouraging higher and faster graduation rates, and more resources for students who choose to dual-enroll to get ahead, enabling them to graduate sooner and cut down on the amount of loans they may need.\r\nOne survey showed roughly half of all first-year students underestimate their student debt and more than a quarter of students with federal loans incorrectly stated they have no federal debt. Personalized debt calculators, like the Financial Awareness Calculation Tool, give student borrowers the opportunity to calculate an estimate of their loans and the repayment process.\r\nAccording to the\u00a0Institute for College Access & Success,\u00a0the average debt for a Missouri graduate of a public 4-year institution or private non-profit 4-year institution is\u00a0$25,844 and the proportion of Missouri graduates from those institutions with debt is\u00a059 percent.\u00a0Missouri ranks \u200e33rd\u00a0in the nation\u00a0in terms of how much debt students graduate with and\u00a031st\u00a0in the nation\u00a0in terms of how many students graduate with debt.\r\nVisit\u00a0mccaskill.senate.gov/education\u00a0to read highlights of McCaskill\u2019s work to improve education.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/following-mccaskill-request-on-student-loan-counseling-education-department-changes-course"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.3297800216823816, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}