CGA NEWS
(5-10-13)
To: CGA
From: A۰P۰L۰U Congressional and Governmental Affairs Staff
Yesterday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) and Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced Smarter Solutions for Students Act (H.R. 1911), legislation aimed at preventing student loan interest rate from jumping from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1.
Specifically, the bill:
§ Calculates subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans using a formula based on the 10-year Treasury Note plus 2.5 percent.
§ Calculates graduate and parent PLUS loans using a formula based on the 10-year Treasury Note plus 4.5 percent.
§ Resets student loan interest rates once a year, allowing rates to move with the free market and ensuring borrowers can take advantage of lower interest rates when available.
§ Protects borrowers in high interest rate environments by including an 8.5 percent cap on Stafford Loan interest rates and a 10.5 percent cap on PLUS loans.
On the Senate side, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Responsible Student Loan Solutions Act of 2013, which would set the annual student loan interest rate at the 91-day Treasury rate plus a percentage determined to cover administrative costs. The bill would cap interest rates for subsidized loans at 6.8 percent while rates for unsubsidized and PLUS loans would be capped at 8.25 percent. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also introduced a student loan interest rate bill, the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, that will set for one year the subsidized Stafford interest rate to the primary interest rate offered through the Federal Reserve to banks.
Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Mark Warner (D-FL) as well as Representatives Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Robert Andrews (D-NJ) announced early this week the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, bipartisan, bicameral bill that aims to streamline existing institutional reporting requirements while offering readily available and comparative data for prospective students and families. The bill summary, text, a section-by-section, and a current law comparison chart are available here.
The six higher education presidential associations and other associations sent the attached letter to Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Grassley to indicate provisions of support and concern in the Senate Gang of 8 immigration bill, which the Judiciary Committee is beginning to mark-up.
The Coalition for Agricultural Development (CFAD), of which APLU is a founding member, requests universities to sign-on to the attached FY14 appropriations letter to the House and Senate Chairs and Ranking Members of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittees in support of global agricultural development. The letter and issues paper makes the broad case for supporting international development while also recognizing the integral role of universities and scientific research.
APLU has circulated a similar letter for institutional endorsements in recent years and as in the past, APLU will share this request with the campus international agriculture program officers and other members of the Commission for International Initiatives, encouraging them to coordinate with their CGA.
The deadline to sign-on is COB May 23rd. For questions or to sign-on, please contact Susan Schram at sschram@acdivoca.org or (202) 469-6021.
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
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