Archive for July, 2009

Anyone who’s got student loans, is thinking about or is in college or knows someone in school should appreciate this.  This morning, Rep. George Miller (CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, introduced the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.  This bill proposes to eliminate subsidies to student loan companies and use the $87 billion in savings on a package to make college more affordable and accessible for low and middle income families.

Check it out, this bill will:

• Invest $40 billion to increase the maximum Pell grant award to $5,550 by 2010, and $6,900 by 2019. It will also pave the way to tie the maximum award level to inflation plus 1%.
• Invest in community colleges and historically black colleges and universities, as well as efforts to improve college access and completion rates.
• Strengthen the Perkins loan program to help students avoid risky private loans.
• Simplify the FASFA.
• Provide $10 billion in deficit reduction.
• Originate all future loans through the Direct Loan program, which will create $87 billion in savings over ten years.

Here are the details directly from the House Education and Labor Committee.

Also be sure to check out our friends over at Campus Progress have launched a great campaign called ‘Students Over Banks’ to fight for students in this legislative process.

It’s nice to see to finally see something come out of Washington that prioritizes students over banks.  It’s about time.

~Mary, Rock the Vote

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President Obama is in Michigan today to announce a new initiative to boost community college graduation rates, infrastructure and develop new technologies.

From the Wall Street Journal, “Of the funding, $9 billion will be used to award grants through an “access and completion” fund designed to spur community colleges and states to launch programs designed to raise graduation rates and produce graduates who are ready for the workplace or a four-year school. Administration officials say such measures could include forming partnerships with major employers or bolstering counseling and remediation programs.

Another $2.5 billion will help pay for renovations to community colleges. Administration officials said many are outdated, short on class space and ill-equipped to handle modern technology. The funds are to be used as seed money to help raise private funding or to pay the interest on bonds and loans.

About $500 million will be used to develop online curriculum for community college students”

This is huge – 36% of all college and graduate students go to community college and now they are getting the investment they deserve.

~Mary, Rock the Vote

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