NASFAA Voices Support & Concerns on Proposed Student Aid Legislation
While the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221) represents a large step forward in bridging the widening college access gap, there are several concerns that the House must address before passing the bill, wrote NASFAA Interim President & CEO Joan Crissman in a letter to House Education Committee leadership yesterday.
Crissman praised the House for attempting to index future increases in the Pell Grant, further simplify the FAFSA, rescind student aid prohibitions against students who have been convicted of using drugs, and for providing increased funding to schools that serve predominantly high numbers of low income students. But the letter also points out several areas of concerns that should be addressed before the legislation is brought to a full House vote. Those concerns focus on:
Ensuring the newly proposed Direct Perkins Loan Program allocates funds based solely on the proportion of needy students at an institution and that schools - and ultimately students - are not unfairly penalized by matching fund requirements
Increasing proposed asset caps so that students from middle-income families who currently qualify for a Pell Grant are not inadvertently excluded from future need-based aid eligibility
Giving financial aid administrators authority to exercise professional judgment on asset-cap related issues when warranted
Ensuring that graduate students continue to have access to subsidized Stafford loans
Providing a safety net for schools that may not be able to make a transition into the Direct Loan program by the proposed mandated date of July 1, 2010
Allowing all entities that have a demonstrated capability to provide default prevention and financial literacy services to compete for ED contracts
The House Education and Labor Committee is scheduled to markup H.R. 3221 at 11:00 AM today.
Posted 07/21/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
