Ryan's Higher Ed Record
"With the selection of Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate Saturday morning, presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney made federal spending -- including on higher education -- a major flash point of the coming presidential campaign," Inside Higher Ed reports. "Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican and chair of the House Budget Committee, is best-known as the architect of a House of Representatives budget plan to slash discretionary spending, including federal research funding, student loans and the Pell Grant program, over the next decade. The latest version of that budget plan, which many Republicans praised and the Obama administration has panned, would try to contain cost of Pell Grants by changing eligibility criteria to exclude more students from the program and limiting the maximum award. In a recent appearance at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, one of Romney's education advisers said the candidate would eliminate or consolidate several grant programs and supported a return to bank-based student lending, which would actually cost the federal government money. And at least so far, Romney has deviated occasionally from the Ryan plan, including agreeing with President Obama that interest rates on subsidized student loans should not increase to 6.8 percent this year, as the plan prescribed."
NASFAA's "Financial Aid in the News" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.