Sign the petition — tell Congress to choose students over banks.

Conrad doesn’t want student loan reform to pass. Why? Well, because the student lending industry has jobs in North Dakota. Fifty-seven, to be exact. Blanche Lincoln, Jim Webb, Mark Warner, Tom Carper and the Nelson twins are helping him, because they’ve got jobs in their states too. From companies with deep pockets, private jets and personal golf courses to keep up.

Student loan lobbyists have been distributing a memo around Capitol Hill, with the misleading claim that if the FFEL program is eliminated in favor of direct lending, all of these jobs in the industry will be lost.

The bottom line: job losses in a tough economy are nothing to treat lightly, but the claims made by lobbyists don’t hold to close scrutiny, and the jobs impact must be weighed against the number of students currently enrolled in each state if money that could be going to schools is instead propping up a costly and unnecessary industry that is surviving only because of government subsidy.

Find out more about the Students, Not Banks campaign and sign the petition.