In what is the fourth major legislative victory for Democrats this year, the House and Senate today both approved with veto-proof margins a bill to cut federal loan interest rates and boost student aid by $20 billion.
Specifically, the bill will increase the maximum Pell grant, which goes to the poorest college students, from $4,310 a year to $5,400 a year by 2012 and will cut interest rates on federally backed student loans to poor and middle-class students from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over the next four years. The bill also sets up a loan-forgiveness program for college graduates who work for 10 years in public service professions, such teaching or nursing and caps annual payments for students at a percentage of their income.
President Bush had previously threatened a veto, but the White House said today he would sign it. The legislation will begin taking effect on October 1st.
Friday, September 07, 2007
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2 comments:
That's great, but it's a long way yet to ensure that everyone has a chance to go to college.
Excellent. Yes, it is a long way and we should continue to press Democrats on education at the state and the national level. But, it's a start and a hell of a lot better than what we got under the Republicans, which was lenders ripping off college students with the aid of the schools they attend.
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