A Stimulus Package for College Students?

Even before the stock market imploded and the recession struck, students were finding it increasingly difficult to pay for college.

Students are borrowing at higher levels than they ever had before. At least two out of three students leave school saddled with student debt.

With the financial industry and others getting bailed out, higher ed leaders are wondering why students and families can’t receive some relief.
Thirteen higher ed organizations sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month to ask for a two-year aid stimulus package for students of all income levels.

The groups are calling for such changes as improved access to federal Parent PLUS loans, increased funding for federal work-study programs and raising the maximum federal Pell Grant.

You can read the letter sent by 13 groups, including The Project on Student Debt, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, here.

Learn how to shrink the cost of college by reading The College Solution.