Background
Earlier this week the House Education and Labor Committee unveiled H.R.3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, which would restructure the current student loan system and redirect the savings into new and existing education (higher education, K-12, and early childhood) programs. President Obama called for this restructuring in his FY 2010 budget request.
While the legislation creates a host of new programs, some of which would support social work students and initiatives such as increased Pell Grants and a new community college initiative, it also would end subsidized loans to graduate and professional students after 2015. After that, all graduate and professional federal student loans would be unsubsidized and interest would accrue while a student was in school, thereby increasing the amount of loan debt.
The legislation will be marked up in the House Education and Labor Committee on Tuesday, July 21. It is important to contact Members of Congress as soon as possible to express your disappointment that this legislation carries such a high price for graduate students and encourage them to correct that in the Committee markup of the bill. If your Member of Congress sits on the House Education and Labor Committee, it is especially important that you contact them today to express your concerns. A list of Committee members can be found here: http://edlabor.house.gov/about/members/
How You Can Help
Please help ensure that this problematic provision in H.R.3221 is removed from the legislation during the Committee markup on Tuesday, July 21. Contact your Member of Congress about the importance of subsidized loans for graduate students and ask that they speak with the leadership of the House Education and Labor Committee about rejecting this language. Please reach out to Member offices between now and close of business Monday, July 20.