A huge piece of legislation will pass the U.S. House of Representatives today – the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221). You can check out the great aspects of the bill by clicking here.
Here’s the short version: the bill will reform the financial aid system by increasing the maximum Pell Grant scholarship award to $5,500 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019 and linking it to match cost of living increases. It lowers interest rates on need-based federal student loans. It simplifies the FAFSA form to make it easier to apply for federal student aid. It expands access to low-cost Perkins loans.
The bill invests in community colleges and college-readiness programs. And it ends a ridiculous policy that gives banks wasteful subsidies on student loans and use the savings — as much as $87 billion over 10 years — to help students pay for college. This bill is a huge step forward to make college affordable and accessible. On to the Senate!
UPDATE: The House passed SAFRA (that’s what the insiders call it!) by a vote of 253 to 171. Find out how your Congresspersonage voted here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll719.xml.
