Politics

House Debates the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act

By Jesse Lee

The House is debating the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act, H.R. 5715. In recent months, turmoil in the U.S. credit markets has made it difficult for some lenders in the federally guaranteed student loan program to secure the capital needed to finance college loans, leading some lenders to scale back their lending activity. While no student or college has reported any problems accessing federal student aid to date, it is only prudent for the federal government to make sure that contingency plans are in place that would provide students and families with continued, uninterrupted access to federal loans, regardless of what?s happening in the credit markets. The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act would provide new protections, in addition to those in current law, to ensure that families can continue to access the loans they need to pay for college. Specifically, this legislation would: Reduce borrowers? reliance on costlier private college loans and encourage responsible borrowing; give parent borrowers more time to begin paying off their federal PLUS college loans; help struggling homeowners pay for college; and provide the U.S. Secretary of Education additional tools to safeguard access to student loans. This legislation is part of the ongoing commitment of the new Congress to expanding college access, which has included the College Opportunity and Affordability Act passed in February to address a wide wange of costs associated with high education, and the College Cost Reduction and Access Act which was signed into law in September to boost college aid by roughly $20 billion over the next five years.

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Full post as published by The Gavel on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).