House passes college financial-aid bill

Published

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The House passed a student-loan bill Wednesday that would boost college financial aid by about $18 billion over the next five years and cut federal subsidies to lenders.

The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, which passed 273-149, also calls for investing in minority institutions, controlling repayment rates and creating loan-forgiveness programs, among other actions.

"This bill is a remarkable step forward in our efforts to help every qualified student go to college," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the education and labor committee and author of the legislation, in a statement. "With this bill, we are saying that no one should be denied the opportunity to go to college simply because of the price."

The Senate is expected to vote on college-funding legislation this month. If that legislation passes, then conference on a combined bill would begin.

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The legislation includes items such as:

  • Guaranteeing that borrowers will not have to pay more than 15% of their discretionary income in loan repayments
  • Increasing federal loan limits
  • Providing upfront tuition assistance to undergraduates who commit to teaching in public schools in high-poverty communities or high-need subject areas
  • Providing loan forgiveness for first responders
  • Allowing public servants to have their loans forgiven after 10 years
  • Investing in minority institutions, guaranteeing $500 million over five years

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/white-house-threatens-veto-college-aid/story.aspx?guid=%7BF280B5F8-7512-4A30-AB5F-811A14A7A648%7D

Good news for health care students. The house wants to put more money into training. Write your senator and ask them to support this legislation.

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Specializes in ER.

Too bad our president has talked about vetoing it. Don't even get me started......................:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire

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Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

are you kidding me????

too bad our president has talked about vetoing it. don't even get me started......................:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire
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As someone who owes over 70k in student loans (50k in private loans, 22k in Federal loans), I could go on and on on this topic. Suffice it to say that today's student loan industry is as crooked as a barrel of snakes. They're all crooks and thieves. Well, for the most part, anyway.

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Specializes in ER.

yeah, i wasn't kidding...here's part of the story.

white house threatens house student loan bill veto

by kevin drawbaugh

washington (reuters) - the white house on tuesday threatened to veto a bill backed by u.s. house of representatives democrats that would slash subsidies paid to college student-loan companies such as sallie mae, citigroup and bank of america.

expected to come up for a house floor vote on wednesday, the house bill and a similar measure in the senate have been attacked by the $85 billion student-loan industry, but championed by industry critics, including some student groups.

if adopted into law, the bill would likely squeeze large lenders' profits and chase smaller ones from the sector, industry analysts have predicted.

the white house said late on tuesday that if the house bill went to president george w. bush "in its current form, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."

the white house statement said the bill "fails to target aid to the neediest students currently in college and creates new mandatory federal programs and policies that are poorly designed and would have significant long-term costs."

rep. george miller, chief sponsor of the measure, said in response: "it's unfortunate that the president would let a veto stand between millions of students and the college financial aid they so urgently need."

the california democrat said, "this year, democrats made a commitment to helping students and families pay for college, and we are delivering on that commitment."

democratic leaders now in control of congress are eager to nail down student loan reform as a 2008 campaign issue.

miller's house education and labor committee approved the bill on june 13 by a 30-16 vote largely along party lines. continued...

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That is why it is especially important to write a letter to your Senators asking them to vote for the bill. Reminding senators up for reelection in 2008 that your vote would be contingent on this issue may make all the difference in the world in getting the bill passed.

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here are the senators up for reelection in 2008:

class ii - senators whose terms of service expire in 2009

senators in class ii were elected to office in the november 2002 general election. their terms run from the beginning of the 108th congress on january 3, 2003 to the end of the 110th congress in january 2009.

democratsrepublicansbaucus, max (d-mt)biden, joseph r., jr. (d-de)durbin, richard (d-il)harkin, tom (d-ia)johnson, tim (d-sd)kerry, john f. (d-ma)landrieu, mary l. (d-la)lautenberg, frank r. (d-nj)levin, carl (d-mi)pryor, mark l. (d-ar)reed, jack (d-ri)rockefeller, john d., iv (d-wv)alexander, lamar (r-tn)allard, wayne (r-co)chambliss, saxby (r-ga)cochran, thad (r-ms)coleman, norm (r-mn)collins, susan m. (r-me)cornyn, john (r-tx)craig, larry e. (r-id)dole, elizabeth (r-nc)domenici, pete v. (r-nm)enzi, michael b. (r-wy)graham, lindsey (r-sc)hagel, chuck (r-ne)inhofe, james m. (r-ok)mcconnell, mitch (r-ky)roberts, pat (r-ks)sessions, jeff (r-al)smith, gordon h. (r-or)stevens, ted (r-ak)sununu, john e. (r-nh)warner, john (r-va)

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/two_column_table/class_ii.htm

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I wrote.

One letter, e-mail, or phone call won't do it. But tens of thousands will.

That is how we got safe staffing ratios!

I was one of the tens of thousands of letter writers.

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I wrote.

One letter, e-mail, or phone call won't do it. But tens of thousands will.

That is how we got safe staffing ratios!

I was one of the tens of thousands of letter writers.

How true! I write Nimrod Norm Coleman all the time just to try and bring him to his senses....

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