Despite House and Senate conferees announcing Wednesday night that they had reached a deal on a $790 billion economic stimulus bill, the final package was being tweaked until the bill was finally filed late yesterday night.

The final bill will provide $507 billion in spending programs and $282 billion in tax breaks. At least $80 billion is allocated for K-12 and higher education. The final bill includes roughly $30 billion for students and families for the next two academic years.

"Overall, this is a HUGE win for schools, students and families," NASFAA President and CEO Dr. Phil Day said. "We thank all of you who contacted your members of Congress and acted as advocates for higher education funding."

Pell Grants
Slightly more than $17 billion is provided to increase the maximum award to $5,350 in 2009-10 and $5,550 in 2010-11 and eliminate the Pell Grant shortfall.

Federal Work Study
$200 million is provided for the FWS program, less than the $490 million provided in the House's version of the bill.

Tax Credit
The final bill adopts the House provision to provide approximately $13.5 billion for a $2,500 tax credit. Up to 40 percent ($1,000) of the newly revised tax credit is refundable which generally benefits lower-income taxpayers who, when filing their tax forms, do not have a tax liability. Approximately four million additional students will receive the tax credit now that it is partially refundable.

College Savings
The final bill includes a provision that was in the Senate version to allow computers to be considered a qualified expenses for 529 college savings plans

Unsubsidized Stafford Loan Limits
The $2,000 loan limit increase provided by the House bill was NOT included in the conference report.

Special Allowance Payment
The House provision changing the special allowance payment methodology from CP to LIBOR as NOT included in the Conference Report.

Perkins Loans
The conference report does NOT include additional funding for Perkins. The Senate's version of the bill included $61 million for Perkins, but this was not adopted.

The House plans to vote on the bill today and the Senate is expected to vote on the package on Saturday. Despite efforts to win over Republicans by reducing the cost of the bill, most don't expect many Republicans to support the bill. President Barack Obama could sign the bill into law as early as Monday.

Posted 02/13/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.