Okay, so the 110th Congress ROCKS—or so one confused student thinks! Today, June 20th 2007, the US Senate marked up its, 500 + page version of the, would be Higher Education Access Reconciliation Act of 2007. After thumbing through, an otherwise boring document, I was excited to see that our lawmakers—this go around—might very well be fighting for students! The Senate’s HELP Committee or Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is under the leadership of Senator Ted Kennedy. Chairman Kennedy has pledged increased Pell Grant levels, reductions of interest rates on student loans, debt forgiveness, cutting corporate welfare in the financial aid system and much more.
College cost have grown nearly 40% in the last five years, so as a student I’m all for (1) Strengthening the Middle Class by Making College more Affordable (2) Increasing the Purchasing Power of the Pell Grant Scholarship (3) Ensuring a highly Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom (4) Encouraging and Rewarding Public Services; and lastly, (5) Encouraging Philanthropic Participation ion College Retention and Finance
However, before us students search for the closest party store in jubilate celebration, we must not forget Budget Reconciliation of 2006 when Congress slashed 12.6 billion out of many student loan programs.
So, Madam and Mr. Senator, us students are still watching. Come Senate/House conference time, we’ll pack into any committee hearing room, just as we did today, to simply remind you of our collective resolve. Until then, ONE BIG THANKS to the HELP Committee who just helped students!
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