Need a Senator to Love? Try Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio
United States Senator Sherrod Brown cares about making higher education available to all, and that makes me love him. Brown just announced new legislation aimed at helping student loan borrowers and saving money for the government--at the same time.
Senator Brown said, “It’s a win-win for borrowers and taxpayers—by ensuring that students can access higher education and by helping already-strained borrowers reduce their personal debt load.” The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation would lead to $1.8 billion in savings over 10 years by eliminating federal subsidies for FFEL lenders.
Brown’s bill, the Student Loan Simplification and Opportunity Act of 2011, would give borrowers with both FFEL and Federal Direct Loans the option to convert their FFEL loans to Direct Loans during a nine-month period (January 1, 2012 – October 1, 2012.) Students wouldn’t have to consolidate their loans into Federal Direct, but those who did would receive up to 2 percent off the principal of their FFEL loan. Yes, please!
Brown’s office estimates that nationally, there are 21 million eligible loans that would qualify for savings under the bill and students would save up to $887 million due to the 2 percent reduction in principal.
I love it! Go Buckeyes!
