Last night at Zola New World Bistro a few dozen students enjoyed free food (and, for those over 21, free booze) while staffers from the Center for American Progress (home to Campus Progress) distributed literature about the need for more affordable college tuition. UPUA Governmental Chairwoman Colleen Smith, UPUA President Gavin Keirans, and Director of University Services Chris Smith also spoke to the need for more affordable Penn State tuition, stressing its origin as a land grant institution and what that means.

Students were asked to sign petitions supporting the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), a measure that would eliminate bank subsidies on student loans, and instead divert that money, some $87 billion over 10 years, to Pell Grants and other programs to make college more affordable.

The event, sponsored by Campus Progress (a subsidiary of the Center for American Progress), the United States Students Association, and the US Public Interest Research Group, was one of many held across Pennsylvania. There will be a bit of follow up this morning as a few students travel to Senator Casey’s Bellefonte office to deliver the petition signed by attendees last night.