"President Donald Trump is proposing cuts to financial aid and boosts to HBCU funding boost under the Department of Education budget proposal he released this week," University Business reports.

"Trump’s plan would eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which relieves federal, state, local, or tribal government workers and nonprofit employees of student loan debt after 10 years of student loan payments. Trump also wants to end the Federal Work Study program as well as Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants for low-income students because, the proposal says, it duplicates Pell Grants.

Meanwhile, various programs at HBCUs are in line for $749.2 million, a $44 million increase over last year, while minority-serving institutions could get an increase of $87.4 million (34%).

Overall, Trump is asking Congress for a $5.6 billion decrease (7.8%) in education spending in fiscal year 2021.

'The spending cuts in the president’s proposed budget would devastate student access and success in postsecondary education, and should continue to be rejected outright by Congress, as has been done in previous years,' Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said in a statement. 'But this year’s budget also puts forth several ideas worthy of further consideration.'

Among those ideas, Draeger said, is allowing colleges and universities to try to limit excessive student loan borrowing and require financial literacy training for students. In fact, Trump’s proposal would also set lifetime borrowing limits for certain student loans."

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 2/12/2020