Government Shutdown Impacts Dept of Education and Financial Aid
Sigh. Most Department of Education employees are on furlough. During the shutdown, information on the Department’s websites may not be up to date and transactions with the agency are likely to be delayed. But financial aid funds for federal student loans and Pell Grants are provided through mandatory and multi-year funding, so those funds should continue to be available during the government shutdown. And I'm quite sure the interest will continue to accrue on our student loans. I anticipate that delays are likely to surface…
Department of Education to Contact Federal Student Loan Borrowers, Explain Repayment Options
As first reported, September 3, in The Huffington Post in an article co-authored by Shahien Nasiripour and Joy Resmovits, Sallie Mae, the nation's largest servicer of federal student loans, is failing to enroll many of its distressed borrowers into income-driven repayment plans. "Sallie Mae, a.k.a. SLM Corp., has enrolled relatively few borrowers into the Income-Based Repayment program. Sallie Mae dominates the now-discontinued Federal Family Education Loan Program, owning between 37 and 40 percent of the outstanding…
Congress to Take Up Bill That Loosens Fraud, Waste, & Abuse Restrictions on Colleges
As many of you may already know, members of Congress are currently enjoying a summer recess. In case you've been longing for the daily accusations of partisan rhetoric flowing freely from both sides, never fear for they return to work September 9, 2013! One proposed bill awaiting discussion in the House of Representatives is particularly offensive to borrowers and their families and should certainly not pass unnoticed. The bill, H.R. 2637, introduced by U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and entitled "Supporting Academic Freedom…
President Obama Hits the Road to Discuss College Costs
Attention New Yorkers and citizens of the great state of Pennsylvania: The Obama Express is coming to a college town near you later this week! Thanks to an article today by NPR's Frank James, we now know that President Obama will hit the road this Thursday and Friday to visit college campuses in Buffalo, Syracuse and Binghamton, NY as well as Scranton, Pennsylvania. According to Josh Earnest, Deputy White House Press Secretary, the president is expected to discuss his views on the pressing need to rein in college tuition and fees.…
President Obama signs student loan interest bill
President Obama signed the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act amending the Higher Education Act to change the interest rates on all new subsidized, unsubsidized, GradPLUS, and Parent PLUS loans. The law lowers interest rates for the short term, but over time will subject students and parents to higher interest rates on their student loans. The interest rate for subsidized loans and unsubsidized loans to undergraduate students will be the 10-year Treasury rate plus 2.05 percentage points (currently 3.86 percent), capped at 8.25 percent. …
