THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
NEWS
3A
GOVERNMENT
Bill would mean financial aid overhaul if passed
Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act would end Stafford loans
BY BRANDON SAYERS
bsayers@kansan.com
Under the bill, all future goverment loans would be offered to students through the Federal Direct Loan program, which has been in place at the University for 14 years. These loans would be similar in terms to current gov-
A bill set to go before the U.S. Senate this fall would be the largest policy overhaul in financial aid history and would be financed by eliminating the government program that pays interest on a students' loans while they are still in school.
"Today we made the single largest investment in making college more affordable in the history of our nation ..."
ernment loans, but would begin to accrue interest the moment they are issued. Officials hope to begin offering loans under the new system by July of next year if the Senate approves the bill, but loans already taken out would be unaffected.
NANCY PELOSI
Speaker of the House
"This bill will end the billions upon billions of dollars in unwarranted subsidies that we hand out to banks and financial institutions," President Barack Obama said in a statement on the bill.
sidized Stafford loan program. Subsidized loans have deferred payment plans and are offered through private lenders, with the government guaranteeing these loans and paying the interest until the student graduates. Unsubsidized loans carry similar terms, but with interest accruing the minute they are taken out.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in a conference call that
The bill, called the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, would end the government's sub-
the bill would save money for both taxpayers and students because the Direct Loan program was more efficient than the current system of subsidized loans. According to a report by the Congressional Budget Office, the bill could save taxpayers about $80 billion over
the next decade.
"Today we made the single largest investment in making college more affordable in the history of our nation, and it's the best investment we can make." Pelosi said.
Brenda Maigaard, director of the University's Office of Student Financial Aid, said students would not notice much of a difference in the process of applying for and accepting loans under the system proposed in the bill.
"The Federal Direct Loans process is seamless for both students and parents." Maigard said. "Once the student accepts the
loan and completes the required Master Promissory Note and Loan Counseling for first-time borrowers, the funds are available within just a few days."
About half of the savings under the bill, or $40 billion, would go towards strengthening the government's Pell Grant program. Pell Grants are government-funded grants for students who demonstrate financial need on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. The bill would also designate about $30 billion in savings to fund other education projects and $10 billion to go towards reducing the government's general budget deficit.
"It has been a very good day for students and families who are trying to figure out how to pay for college," said George Miller, chairman of the House
"The larger grant amounts would help a select group of people more, but the loans would help a larger group of people a little less," Whaley said. "That's just the trade off that you have to make, and I'm personally for helping more people a little less."
Committee on Education and Labor, in a conference call.
he said he was unsure how the bill would directly benefit students who were dependent on loans and ineligible for Pell Grants.
Anthony Whaley, Lawrence senior, said that during his time at the University he has received both Pell Grants and government loans.
According to the University OSFA's most recent annual report, more than 8,500 students received subsidized student loans during the 2007 fiscal year. The total amount of these loans was more
Whaley said he was glad the bill included increased funding to Pell Grants, which have helped him cover most of his educational expenses for the current year. But,
"The Federal Direct Loans process is seamless for both students and parents."
BRENDA MAIGAARD Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid
than $38 million,
making up about 40
percent of all student
loan dollars. During
this same period,
only about 3,000
students received
Pell Grants, totaling
about $8 million.
$1,000 unsubsidized loan he took out in 2005. Although the terms for the unsubsidized loans under the new system would be different than his loan from four years ago, the interest rates are similar and may give students a good idea about what to expect from these unsubsidized loans when they graduate.
Whaley said he had accumulated about $200 in interest on a
The bill was approved by the House on Sept. 17 with a vote
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE BILL
If approved by the U.S. Senate this fall, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act would save taxpayers about $80 billion over the next decade. All of these savings would come from eliminating the government's subsidized Stafford loan program, which officials say is inefficient and costly to taxpayers and students alike. The savings from the bill would be reallocated as follows:
$40 billion to be invested in the Pell Grant program: The maximum amount of a Pell Grant would increase from $5,350 to $5,500 next year and would increase according to national inflation beginning in 2011.
$30 billion to be invested in general education funds: These funds would go to a number of programs that would assist public schools, community colleges, early-learning programs, and historically black colleges, among other things.
of 263-171 and is expected to go before the Senate later this fall. However, there have been concerns from some politicians regarding the increased role of government in the new student-lending policy. Under the bill, private loan companies would still provide funds for student loans, but only after a competitive bidding process.
$10 billion to be invested in reducing the government's general budget deficit.
On the Web site of the House Committee on Education and Labor, director of Research and Outreach Betsy Kittredge said the bill would create a more efficient type of public-private partnership and would ensure that students received the cheapest loans with the best possible service.
a government takeover, when the federal student loan programs are already a federal program, established and subsidized by the federal government." Kittredge said.
Kittredge said that under the current system, about 60 percent of the money for government student loans was already financed by taxpayers.
"There's simply no reason to keep pumping taxpayer dollars into a broken system when the federal government can provide the same low-cost federal loans more reliably for students and at a lower cost for taxpayers," Kittredge said.
"It's ridiculous to argue this is
— Edited by Lauren Cunningham
HEALTH Wellness Resource Center to promote hand washing
The average hand is host to at least 5,000 germs at any given time, according to the American Society for Microbiology. And with all the illnesses spreading around campus right now, washing your hands has become even more important.
But is your hand-washing hygiene up to par? The Wellness Resource Center is providing an informational tabling event for you to find the answer.
WHO: Wellness Resource Center
The Center will have a table from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a different dining halls today. Wednesday
"We're trying to keep as many students safe and protected as possible," said Jenny McKee, health educator with the WRC and one of the administrators for the tabling event. "Washing your hands is the number one thing you can do to prevent getting ill."
WHAT: Hand-washing information
WHEN AND WHERE: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at Mrs. E's; Wednesday at Oliver Hall; and Thursday at GSP
and Thursday for students to see how well they wash their hands and learn hand-washing techniques.
Students who visit the table can volunteer to apply a UV disclosing lotion on their hands, wash their hands as they usually do, then stick their hands under a UV light to see how much of the lotion is left.
Mckee said students often miss their fingers and wrists, the backs of their hands and underneath their fingernails.
- Sing the "Happy Birthday" song all the way through while washing your hands.
— Aly VanDyke
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE HAND WASHING
Use warm water, rather than scalding hot water.
Get enough soap to completely lather your hands.
- Rinse the soap away completely.
- Try to use a clean paper towel to completely dry your hands.
Don't rely on alcohol-based hand sanitizer as a substitute for soap and warm water.
Source: Jenny McKee
The future looks green
Michael Rollins, Leawood senior, talks to a representative of Sega, Inc., an engineering firm, at the Computer Science and Engineering Career Fair held at the Kansas Union on Wednesday. Rollins, a mechanical engineering major, said he came to the fair anticipating companies looking for engineers concerned with sustainable and renewable energy resources, which he said were very important to him. As a member of KU EcoHawks, Rollins said he was pleased with how receptive many of the company resources were to more environmentally friendly engineering techniques and goals.
Alex Bonham-Carter/KANSAN
WEATHER Storm causes deaths and disappearances in Georgia
ATLANTA — A two-year-old Georgia boy swept from his father's arms Monday was among six people killed by storms pounding the Southeast, and more rain was expected after the historic dumping that also forced
WEATHER
The boy, Slade Crawford, was found downstream of his family's ruined mobile home, which was split apart around 2 a.m. by a surging creek, said Ed Baskin, deputy coroner in Carroll County. The parents had been rescued as another son, age 1, clung to his mother's arms in the county
drivers to scramble onto the roofs of cars on Atlanta's main artery.
southwest of Atlanta.
The storms were blamed for four other deaths in Georgia and one in Alabama. A Tennessee man also disappeared after he went swimming in an overflowing ditch on a dare, and officials in north Georgia's Chattoooga County say a 15-year-old boy is also missing.
Associated Press
LAWRENCE FBI veteran will speak about discovering lies
Mark Bouton spent more than 30 years reading people as an FBI investigator. Tonight at 7 he will share the skills he developed in a speech called "How To Spot Lies Like the FBI."
Zach White
During his tenure at the Bureau he contributed to a number of high-profile investigations, including the Oklahoma City bombings in his home state.
In 1997 Bouton retired and he now writes mystery novels, the most recent of which is "The Second Savior." The book
is a spiritual thriller involving gang warfare in Los Angeles.
He is currently working on a non-fiction guide based on the topics he will cover in tonight's presentation.
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