The Arizona Students’ Association kicked off a weeklong campaign Monday to improve financial aid by encouraging students to tell Congress about their debt and to help create a student-debt yearbook.

ASA members will host events all week outside of the Tempe campus Memorial Union as part of the “Raising Pell Week of Action” to inform people about the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Since it began, 650 people have participated in the SAFRA campaign.

On Monday, 86 students signed the student-debt yearbook. The total debt estimated by those 86 students is $3.8 million for undergraduate and graduate school at ASU, ASA Tempe Campus Organizer Joel Edman said.

SAFRA, which the U.S. Senate must approve before Oct. 15, would generate about $67 billion in net savings over the next 10 years that will be used to increase Pell grant scholarships and contribute $8 billion toward the national debt, ASA member and undeclared freshman Abby Henderson said.

Henderson said she is extremely optimistic that the bill will pass.

“I think a lot of people are realizing that even if it doesn’t affect them personally, it affects their friends or the community,” she said.

“People are seeing how ridiculously helpful this bill can be.”

Henderson said her goal for the week is to inform people as much as possible about SAFRA.

“A lot of people are focusing on health care reform, and people don’t even know about this great bill that would help so many different people,” she said.

The bill will allow the government to loan money to students directly instead of through banks, meaning banks will not collect interest on the loans, Edman said.

Henderson said those who oppose the bill are mostly people who think banks are going to lose money.

“It’s clearly not beneficial for banks in this country, but education is the foundation of everything,” she said. “The future of banks is going to depend on if we have educated people to run them. In order to have that, people need to be able to afford education.”

ASA director for the Tempe campus and English literature senior Ben Henderson said American banks won’t benefit from the legislation, but students will still have the option to take out loans from banks if they want to.

“Congress right now needs to be looking at the big picture,” Ben Henderson said. “They have to be looking at the nation’s economy as a whole and universities play a huge part of that economy.”

Ben Henderson is also confident the bill will be passed.

“This really benefits almost everyone,” he said.

Spanish freshman Rachel Kultala estimated her debt will be around $100,000 when she graduates from ASU.

She stopped at the ASA tent to contribute to the student-debt yearbook because she said the bill strongly affects her. She also said she thinks Congress will pass the bill.

“I think if students make a big deal about this, the way that they should, I think it will absolutely pass,” Kultala said. “There are so many students in this country, and if enough speak up this won’t even be an issue. It will have to pass.”

Reach the reporter sheydt@asu.edu.