See How Your Politicians Voted
Title: Student Loan Lender Subsidy Cuts and Student Grants
Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that makes changes to regulations and funding for student financial aid.
Highlights:
- Appropriates $33.60 billion to gradually increase Pell Grant amounts to $5,400 by 2012 and maintains funding through 2017 (Sec. 102).
- Incrementally lowers the current 6.8 percent interest rate for Federal Subsidized Student Loans and Federal Direct Stafford Loans every year until the rate is set at 3.4 percent for loans disbursed after July 1, 2011, and before July 1, 2012 (Sec. 201).
- Establishes an auction for each state to determine the lenders who will provide Federal PLUS Loans to colleges and universities in the state, to be held every two years in order to determine the two lenders with the lowest bids for special allowance payments (Sec. 701).
- Appropriates $57.00 million a year through 2011 for Upward Bound programs that did not receive funding in 2007 but have been given a grant score over 70 (Sec. 103).
- Creates $4,000 a year TEACH Grants to encourage teachers to take courses in mathematics, sciences, foreign languages, bilingual education, special education, reading, and other high-need fields and requires teachers to teach the subject they took courses in for at least four years (Sec. 104).
- Allows members of the military services to defer loan payments for up to 180 days after demobilization for Federal Family Education Loans, Stafford Loans, and Perkins Loans (Sec. 202).
- Allows loan forgiveness for employees who have made 120 monthly payments on student loans while employed in public service (Sec. 401).
- Raises the income protection allowance through 2013 to $6,000 for dependent students, $9,330 for single independent students without dependents or married independent students without dependents who are both enrolled in college, and $14,960 for married independent students where one is enrolled in college. Adopts a table detailing allowances for independent students with dependents through 2013 (Sec. 601).
- Raises the maximum income required to automatically attain a zero expected family contribution from $20,000 to $30,000 a year and adjusts the required income level in future years based on the Consumer Price Index (Sec. 602).
- States that if a borrower's income level is above 150 percent of the poverty line, student loan repayments can be capped at 15 percent of the amount that their income exceeds that rate (Sec. 203).
- Eliminates the "exceptional performer" status through which lenders are entitled to 100 percent payment of unpaid principles and interests from guaranty agencies (Sec. 302).