Student Loans
College costs are growing rapidly and financial aid hasn’t kept up. Close to 70 percent of undergrads graduate with debt. In 2009, the average student borrower owed $27,600. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) of 2010 ensures that all federally funded student loans will be directed through the federal government’s Direct Loan Program (DLP,) saving $61 billion and using that money to fund increased Pell Grant funding. SAFRA abolished the Federal Education Loan Program (FFELP), which used subsidized loan companies to provide student loans.
Cry Wolf Quotes
We also have concerns over the potential impact on Sallie Mae's operations in Delaware, which employs nearly 700 workers. We ask that as you draft the committee's mark ... you maintain a role for Sallie Mae in the student lending process that recognizes the important services Sallie Mae has provided millions of students and mitigates any potential job loss in Delaware.
CBA also disputed administration claims that eliminating the FFEL program would not result in poorer customer service to students and parents. More than 30,000 people are currently involved in helping students via the FFEL program. These experts understand students' loan obligations and how to get students the help they need when facing difficultly in repaying their loans. Firing them and hiring some untrained replacements, as the President proposes, would be a huge setback for educational opportunity.
The good work Sallie Mae does to support millions of students and families across the country is also felt right here in Pennsylvania. The company has been part of this community for more than two decades and we need them to continue to provide employment opportunities in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Gone will be the days when students and their colleges picked the lender that best fit their needs; instead, a federal bureaucrat will make that choice for every student in America based on still-unclear guidelines.
Related Laws and Rules
Evidence
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5 Myths About Student Loan Reform
Campus Progress: Almost all of the student loan industry's warning about SAFRA were wrong.
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Are Student Loan Companies Playing Politics With People’s Jobs
The definitive refutation of “job killer” cry wolf claims regarding SAFRA.
Resources
Campus Progress is the youth wing of the Center for American Progress. They do work in both advocacy and journalism.
Higher Education Watch is the New America Foundation's blog about the politics and policy of higher education.
