Student Loan Bill Goes To President

Well, you know it had to happen. The Student Loan Bill goes to the President for his signature. This will put many of the student loan subsidies under the Governments control…yikes! You know, the same government that thought it was a good idea to bail out banks and auto companies. The same Government that started the Cash For Clunkers program and underfunded and miscalculated, not once…oh no…but twice in two months!

This bill that went to President Obama is suppose to make college more affordable for students that have a hard time paying for it. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of efforts by many States to legalize gambling under the pretense of the proceeds going to education. Now we find out that our schools are still under funded or the money has been misappropriated.

What happened to the tax dollars these States were using before the gambling proceeds? Why are some States still increasing property taxes to pay for education when they’re having record amounts of gambling proceeds coming in?

When you discover the answer to those questions you’ll find out why it’s a bad idea to give the Government full control over the Student loan programs.

You think education is expensive now, just wait! You think filling out all that paper work for a student loan was a pain in the who-haa, wait until Uncle Obama get’s done with the process.

Under this new bill, Pell Grants are suppose to increase to $6900 over the next decade. WHAT? OVER THE NEXT DECADE???

Why will it take 10 years to increase the Pell Grant amount? Do you think that College cost will rise as slow as the maximum amount  you can apply for under a Pell Grant?

Hell no! This bill does nothing at all to curb college cost! Perhaps the Government wouldn’t have to throw our taxdollars at this if they would sit down and find ways to reduce the cost of college in the first place!

But then, Politicians wouldn’t be able to get their greedy little hands on taxpayers money and they just can’t have that! So when the student loan bill goes to the President, don’t cheer, be afraid, very afraid of your education and future!

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Tagged With government assistance, Pell Grant, student loan advice, student loan bill goes to president

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President Obama’s Stimulus Bill Promises Student Aid

The House of Representatives may be voting on President Obama’s stimulus bill that promises student aid, a.k.a. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, that could make the federal Pell Grant Program seem half its size in comparison. Obama’s stimulus bill could provide billions of dollars in spending and financial aid for many colleges and universities across the country. President Barack Obama’s request for an $825 billion stimulus financial aid package to combat the countries current recession and invest in health care, education and infrastructure programs was the basis for which he modeled this economic stimulus bill. The bill would enlarge the Pell Grant Program significantly. The Pell Grant Program distributes federal grants to around 6 million university students in the United States every year. Congress was warned last year by the Department of Education that the program would be facing a $6 billion shortfall in 2009 if additional funding is not obtained.

On a side note, the stimulus act increases funding for Pell Grants and goes to students from low and moderate income families to those who make less that $40,000 annually. The good news is Pell Grants don’t have to be repaid and you can use them for tuition and living expenses.

Funding for the program would be increased by this bill by about $15.6 billion but in 2008 was $16.2 billion. The maximum grant per student would be raised by from the current $500 per student, to a whopping $5,350 annually.

An increase of $2,000 per student in student loans and more tax credits for students is also wrapped into this bill. There is also a $490 million program which would support working students, as well as $6 billion dollars to modernize buildings, and $39 billion dollars available for state governments to distribute to public colleges and school districts across the country.

The house bill is expected to pass with most of the Democrats supporting the vote as well as President Barack Obama. Once it passes, it will most likely take several weeks for the bill to become law and the House and Senate also need to agree on bill that is an identical version before it can become law. Opposition for the bill is expected to come from the Republican side of the aisle. Some republicans have said that spending money on colleges that have billion dollar endowments is not the right way to approach it. It just so happens that the bill is loaded with hundreds of billions of dollars in spending on projects and programs which will not impact our ailing economy for many years, if they ever do.

The publisher of Finaid.com, Mark Kantrowitz estimates that the bill will raise the number of Pell Grant recipients by approximately 800,000. There are those that won’t get the maximum grant benefit because they will be on the fine line of eligibility.

Obama’s budget would in turn make the grants similar to many other entitlement programs like Social Security and

Medicare, by money automatically going into the program every year according to a formula.

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Tagged With obama's stimulus package, stimulus bill, stimulus financial aid, stimulus student loans, student loans stimulus bill

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