From the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (link to 3/15 CBO report at that link also):
"The current economic climate creates tough decisions for everyone," said NASFAA President and CEO Joan Crissman. "It is encouraging that Congress continues to make funding student financial aid a top priority in these difficult times."
The reconciliation package is expected to garner widespread support from the higher education community, but higher education associations are waiting to see the final language before offering official positions on the bill.
But Senator Alexander's postion as GOP #3 does not afford him the opportunity to wait for the final language before calling for the repeal of another "government takeover." The Tennesseean:
At two Capitol Hill news conferences, Alexander on Tuesday decried the proposal as another government takeover that would deny choices for students
When are reporters such as BILL THEOBALD • Tennessean Washington Bureau, when given statements such as "deny students choices" by politicians such as Lamar Alexander, going to start asking "WTF does that mean?!"
"He said
continued...
the interest rates charged students under the legislation would be artificially high to pay for other education programs. Instead, Alexander said students should be given lower rates." Are those interest rates going to be higher than those currently charged by the private lenders under FFELP or is he poorly trying to spin the fact that FFELP money will be cut to go directly to students through other education programs such as Pell Grants?
"He said reducing the interest rates established by the legislation by 1.5 percentage points would save the average borrower more than $2,000 over 10 years." Once again, are interest rates in the proposed legislation 1.5 points higher than the current (average?) rate? I doubt it, but really, I'm asking. Is he just giving us a hypothetical situation that he has no means to deliver? Could journalism be any weaker than Theobald's "get a couple quotes and phone it in" piece in the Tennessean that I'm not even going to link to today? Fill me in.
Previously, "You Can't Do That on Television Anymore, Lamar Alexander"
See also, Alexander Admits Senate GOP Will Obstruct Fixes To Improve Health Care Bill Simply For Partisan Gain
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Additional context...
William (Tony) Hollin, CEO EDAMerica, and Ron Gambill, CEO EDSouth from opensecrets.org:
HOLLIN, WILLIAM 5/27/09 $1,500 Tenn PAC* (R)
HOLLIN, WILLIAM 11/13/07 $1,000 Alexander, Lamar (R)
HOLLIN, WILLIAM 9/23/04 $1,000 Alexander, Lamar (R)
HOLLIN, WILLIAM 3/31/07 $500 Hoekstra, Peter (R)
HOLLIN, ANTHONY WM 6/19/07 $500 Keller, Ric (R)
HOLLIN, WILLIAM 1/14/04 $2,000 Bush, George W (R)
GAMBILL, RON 8/8/03 $250 Boehner, John (R)
GAMBILL, RON 3/14/08 $250 Alexander, Lamar (R)
GAMBILL, RON 12/3/07 $250 Alexander, Lamar (R)
GAMBILL, RON 6/25/07 $250 Alexander, Lamar (R)
GAMBILL, RON 2/26/07 $250 Blackburn, Marsha (R)
GAMBILL, RON 4/4/08 $250 Blackburn, Marsha (R)
GAMBILL, RON 5/9/07 $250 Blackburn, Marsha (R)
GAMBILL, RON 6/25/07 $250 Alexander, Lamar (R)
GAMBILL, RON 12/3/07 $250 Alexander, Lamar (R)
GAMBILL, RON 3/14/08 $250 Alexander, Lamar (R)
GAMBILL, RON 2/26/07 $250 Blackburn, Marsha (R)
GAMBILL, RON 9/30/09 $250 Alexander, Lamar (R)
(*Tenn PAC is Lamar Alexander's "leadership PAC")
PREVIOUSLY:
Surprise! Student lenders object to Obama student loan reforms
Obama budget expands Pell grants, other student aid
Very helpful
Ah, very helpful, Randy. Thanks.
On the face of it, it would certainly seem to make sense to "eliminate the middleman" in this scheme so that additional loan $$$ might be generated for students and more education programs might be funded by the feds.
I did raise one question over at the KNS (which may not be related), namely whether eliminating this middleman in any way poses greater risk to the federal government as concerns rising student default rates on loans?
Or is it the case that the feds carry this same degree of risk already, given their role as student loan guarantor?
I was wondering if the "found $$$" this change could produce is a sure bet?