Today, Wednesday, March 11, White House executive staff members held a conference call with college and university newspapers to discuss President Obama’s Student Aid Bill of Rights.

The Maroon was included on the call with the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan and other executive staff members. President Obama also joined in on the call to further explain the purpose of his new bill.

“The principles are simple,” Obama said on the conference call. “I want every college student to have access to a quality education.”

This bill, which the president announced at The Georgia Institute of Technology on March 10, calls for the direct action of the Department of Education and other federal agencies to work across the federal government to help student borrowers afford their monthly loan payments.

In the Student Aid Bill of Rights, the president calls for a responsive student feedback system, which the Secretary of Education will implement on July 1, 2016. The Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, said that this complaint system will give students and borrowers a simple and straightforward way to file complaints and provide feedback about federal student loan lenders, servicers, collection agencies and institutions of higher learning.

When The Maroon asked if the federal government will be holding financial aid offices at universities and colleges accountable when aiding student borrowers, Duncan said that the government’s office of federal student aid holds an annual conference with financial aid officers from around the country to better help them service student needs.

Duncan told The Maroon that whatever the federal government can do to not only hold universities accountable but be better partners in sharing information to empower them to help students make better choices, will be a step in the right direction.

The president said he will also implement a series of steps to improve customer service and help borrowers repay their direct student loans in a way that will allow them to afford their monthly payments.

“Every student should be able to access the resources to pay for college, every borrower has the right to an affordable repayment plan, and every borrower has the right to quality customer service, reliable information and fair treatment even when they’re struggling to repay their loans,” Obama said on the conference call.