The Bush Administration passed on Sept. 27 the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, legislation promising a significant increase in federal aid to undergraduate college students.
The largest investment in higher education since the 1944 GI Bill, the Act cuts the interest rates of Federal Subsided Stafford Loans in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent and raises the maximum student Pell Grant from $4,310 in 2007 to $5,400 in 2012. Effective in fall 2008, it applies to both incoming freshman as well as current undergraduate students.
For UMass students, 61 percent of whom graduate with student loans of over $14,000, and 20 percent of whom currently carry Pell Grants, the act will help mitigate financial duress.
“This new investment is long overdue. The cost of attending public college rose by almost 40 percent over the past five years during the Republican-led Congress, yet the maximum Pell Grant increased by only 8 percent during that time period,” said Congressman John Olver, D-MA.
Olver, along with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, supported this act and pushed it along through Congress and the Senate.
“College educations are more expensive than ever, but also more necessary than ever,” Olver added. “We need to do whatever we can to break down the financial barriers that prevent too many capable students from pursuing higher education.”
The act also aims to ease the financial burdens of recent college graduates by restricting loan repayment to a maximum of 15 percent of their total income.
“Even if you are able to attend college, it is still so difficult to make ends meet for students who recently graduated and are out on the work force for the first time, completely bogged down with thousands of dollars in loans,” said Olver’s press representative, Sarah Burch.
The act additionally rewards aspiring public school teachers and other public servants, including military contributors, firefighters, nurses, prosecutors and early childhood educators.
Students pursuing teaching careers can receive as much as $4,000 in tuition assistance per year. Students who become public servants will receive complete loan forgiveness following 10 years of service.
“In Massachusetts alone, this legislature will save each student nearly $5,000 in interest and give the 77,000 students receiving the Pell Grant additional support,” added Burch.
“I definitely do think it [the act] will help,” said Crystal Baxley, an intern at student public interest group MASSPIRG. “It is a great step forward in making education at UMass and across the country more affordable and less daunting.”
“Of course, it does not solve all the problems. There is still a $500 expense for textbooks every semester,” she added. “But it is a good first step.”
Baxley, along with MASSPIRG, is currently lobbying for higher education and textbook affordability.
“It is extremely important to Massachusetts and the rest of the country that this act was passed,” said UMass student Ross Broughton Brady. “It’s nice that George Bush is finally doing something nice for the students.”
Lisa DeBenedictis can be reached at [email protected].
Shruti Sehgal can be reached at [email protected].
