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The Higher Education Act and its Impact at Sherman College
Submitted by Director of Financial Aid Kendra Strange
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A few months ago, we shared information with you regarding reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) and the Republicans’ proposed bill known as the Prosper Act. This particular bill is notably controversial with stakeholders in the higher education community due to its provisions which would eliminate the Grad PLUS Loan Program, eliminate Federal work-study for graduate level students, and eliminate Public Loan Forgiveness Program for student loan borrowers.
Many national organizations, such as NASFAA (National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators), AMA (American Medical Association) and DOD (the U.S. Department of Defense), have voiced their concerns. Our Spartanburg College Town neighbors, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and their national association, the American Association of College of Osteopathic Medicine, have their own advocacy campaign called ED to MED, which is spreading awareness of certain issues that affect graduate students on social media through their #SaveGradPLUS movement.
If you wrote a letter or reached out to your Congressional representative in any way after reading Dr. Cordero’s letter regarding our Prosper Act concerns, we thank you for your support. The Prosper Act has been in limbo since it passed out of the House committee in December.
While experts claim it is highly unlikely that HEA reauthorization will occur this year, just before the August break, Democrats released their own proposal called the Aim Higher Act. Although this act seems to promote more funding for programs that directly affect undergraduate students, we don’t see the language that proposes the elimination of programs, as the Prosper Act does, which would heavily impact graduate level students like those enrolled at Sherman College.
Some notable items suggested by the bill are the elimination of student loan origination fees, full mandatory funding for the Pell Grant program, simplification of the FAFSA, and simplification of income-driven repayment plans for loan borrowers. Also mentioned in this proposal is the revival of the Perkins Loan Program and adjustments in the cohort default rate metric, which “rates” schools on their percentage of defaulted loan borrowers vs. repaying loan borrowers. (Coincidentally, Sherman’s cohort default rate is scheduled to be at 0% in September of 2018).
The Congressional Budget Office has not yet scored the Aim Higher Act, but their findings on the Prosper Act suggest that, if passed as proposed, there would be a net loss in federal student aid of $7.4 billion over 10 years. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said, “The Aim Higher Act is a serious and comprehensive proposal to give every student the opportunity to earn a debt-free degree or credential. It provides immediate and long-term relief to students and parents struggling with the cost of college, it puts a greater focus on helping students graduate on time with a quality degree that leads to a rewarding career, and it cracks down on predatory for-profit college that peddle expensive, low-quality degrees at the expense of students and taxpayers.”
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