Student loan reform will provide relief to college students

The health care reform passed in the House of Representatives last Sunday won't only provide health care for the citizens of the United States, but will also provide some help for college students.

The reform was piggybacked on the back of health care reform.

The new student loan reform is aiming to eliminate the private sector from the process and have all loans come straight from the government.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this would create a $62 billion net savings through 2020.

The $62 billion that's being saved would go back into financial aid.

SRU increased tuition by 3.5 percent before this school year, but the raise was below the rate of inflation for four straight years.

State schools are struggling to keep up in the current economy.

Students also bear the brunt of the burden because they're forced to pay higher tuition rates whenever the economy goes south.

SRU is still one of the cheapest schools in the state.

But with a $9 million deficit, how long will it be able to keep tuition costs so low?

Democrats trimmed their original spending plan by dropping the amount from $87 billion to $61 billion.

They increased the maximum number of dollars that could be spent on a Pell Grant from $5,300 to $5,900.

Besides increasing Pell Grants, the bill provides $1.5 billion to help students repay their loans. And beginning in 2014, borrowers won't be allowed to devote more than 10 percent of their monthly income to repay student loans.

The idea of there being more money toward financial aid is exciting for many students, and a majority of our staff is in favor of the program.

Any additional financial aid that could be provided for students would be beneficial.

Can you imagine, if we have children one day, what the cost of colleges will be?

Increasing tuition every year is going to hurt every aspect of academia.

The first victim of these increases would be lower-income students.

It's hard enough for students to pay as it as, let alone without any help for financial aid. These kids are trying to better their lives and may need an extra push to get there.

Students will also enjoy this new system because they'll have to spend less time worrying about making money to go to school.

Working will still be important, but with extra grant money coming in, they could put more focus on education.

Some of our staff members do have problems with the nature of how the bill was passed.

This is a practice that's gone on in the United States forever, but it's a reprehensible way to push a bill through.

Healthcare was on the front page of most major newspapers, while student loan reform was on page seven.

Also, cutting out the private sector will eliminate nearly 32,000 jobs.

The banks in the private sector used to be responsible for processing the loans once they were approved.

That isn't helping an economy rife with unemployment.

Also, increasing the Pell Grant by $600 is kind of insignificant, considering tuition at the Rock went up by $181 last year.

So in five years, the $600 extra wouldn't matter in four years.

We're all in favor of more money and hope this new program will benefit students sooner rather than later.

article source: theonlinerocket