Higher Ed Utah

Congress has just released the reconciliation bill that contains the health care reform package and student loan reform legislation, and there is exciting news for community colleges. (The bill can be found at http://rules.house.gov/bills_details.aspx?NewsID=4606 and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller’s summary is at http://edlabor.house.gov/newsroom/2010/03/miller-health-care-bill-will-i.shtml)
The student loan reform bill – which had been called the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) in the House – will end the Federal Family Education Loan program and move all institutions to the Direct Loan program by July 1 of this year. This move saves the federal government an estimated $61 billion over the next 10 years, which will then be used to provide additional resources for the Pell Grant program and fund other priorities. Congress had originally estimated that the move to direct lending would save $87 billion.

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