Update on Bill to Restructure Student Aid Programs
by Emily Snyder, IECA (Virginia)
Today’s edition of Inside Higher Ed includes a partisan yet objective assessment of both the appreciation for and concerns with the Congressional bill to restructure student aid programs.
It may be somewhat of a long read for anyone not interested in the “how did this come about” politicking that goes on behind the passing of legislation, but it does cover the basics and explain the issues that are generating the most amount of concern.
Even for college consultants who don’t include financial aid counseling and advice as part of the services they offer, this article still provides a sense of the complexity of the issues and will help everyone better understand who will be most impacted and what all students in search of—and most importantly in need of—funding for college will be up against as more families than ever compete for an increasingly smaller pool of available federal and state money.
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Thanks Emily for posting this.
Although the legislation that seems certain to pass contains a number of important provisions, two pieces are central: first would be an infusion of $40 million into the Pell Grant Program, a major increase. Second would be a move toward Direct Student Loans–those made by the federal government as opposed to private bankers that would stabilize loans with a lower fixed rate of interest.