Obama Signs Reconciliation Bill into Law; Congress Makes Landmark Investment in Higher Ed
This week, as The Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act was signed into law, President Obama committed a historic amount of aid to students, workers and their families. The Act prioritizes college access and affordability for those who need it most—relieving the burden of student loan debt, investing in institutions, and providing new investments and training programs to fill the middle-skill job gap.
The law, which will impact all student loans taken out after July 2010, will take the savings from eliminating the wasteful subsidies that went to Big Banks and Sallie Mae under the FFEL student loan program and specifically provide:
· $40 billion for the Pell Grant program, increasing the maximum award to $5975 by 2017 in order to keep up with the pace of inflation and ensure that all eligible students receive this award to provide equal access for all American students to a college-level education.
· A strengthening of the income-based loan repayment program, which helps graduates with large loan payments by limiting the amount they need to pay monthly to a percentage of their income. The changes will cap loan repayments to 10 percent of their discretionary income, and forgive their remaining payment balance after 20 years of on time repayment.
· $2.55 billion in funding for Minority Serving Institutions including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and tribal colleges. MSI’s account for one-third of all degree-granting institutions, and this money can be used to renew facilities and boost programs for some of the largest providers of higher education to low and middle-income students.
· $2 billion over four years to invest in new community college programs and partnerships that facilitate higher learning and retraining for students and workers of any age or skill-level. This investment will allow community colleges to continue to work with businesses, government, and industry to strengthen America’s 21st Century workforce, and improve the quality of job training and education that citizens are receiving.
The Campaign for College Affordability commends House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Education Committee Chair George Miller and Senate Education Committee Chair Tom Harkin and President Obama for their leadership in ensuring these investments in higher education and training--a key to keeping the United States competitive in the global economy.
