Amendment passes as part of bill to reform college-lending programs
Washington, D.C. – Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick today hailed passage of a measure to make it easier for soldiers and veterans to transfer college credits.
“Many soldiers don’t have a lot of options for attending college while serving their country,” Minnick said. “My amendment will make sure that the credits they work so hard to earn will more easily transfer to the colleges and universities they attend later in life.”
(Click here to watch a video of speeches and debate on Minnick’s amendment, which passed the House 428 to 0.)
Minnick’s amendment was part of a sweeping bill passed today by the U.S. House. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act will make college courses more accessible, will strengthen community colleges, provides new funding for for early-childhood education for states such as Idaho, and will ultimately save taxpayers nearly $90 billion over the next 10 years.
“Providing more educational opportunities to students is critical to the economic future of our nation,” Minnick said. “Not only will this bill improve the educational opportunities for our very youngest students, it will also help more students attend college and make college more affordable for Idaho families. This bill also helps young people by reducing our federal deficit and saving taxpayers nearly $90 billion over the next 10 years.”
Minnick also issued a challenge to local leaders in Idaho, calling on them to take advantage of new opportunities this bill will create.
“I hope that the Idaho legislature will finally act on our state’s great need to expand pre-kindergarten programs in our state,” Minnick said. “There will be over $1 billion available in competitive federal grants to train educators, prepare Idaho schools and create local standards for pre-K education. Idaho must jump at the opportunity.”
The bill includes:
- $750,000 a year to Idaho for the next five years through an increase in funding for the College Access Challenge Grant program;
- $13.1 million over the next two years for Idaho schools to modernize, renovate and repaid their facilities;
- $4.5 million specifically to help Idaho community colleges finance projects to repair or construct new facilities.
Fact sheet:
- The core provision of the bill is to originate all new Federal student loans through the Direct Loan program rather than through lenders subsidized by the government. Non-governmental entities would continue to service the loans. (Source: House Education and Labor Committee.)
- The bill will boost the number of Pell Grant recipients in Idaho from roughly 13,000 to more than 20,000 by 2019. (Source: Department of Education.)
- In the First Congressional District of Idaho, it is estimated that nearly 20,000 students will be eligible for a Pell Grant award in the 2010-11 academic year. (Source: House Education and Labor Committee.)
- Applications for student aid in Idaho are expected to increase from about 35,000 to more than 50,000 by 2012. (Source: Department of Education.)
- Students do not need to attend a four-year institution in order to apply for the aid in this bill. For example, Headmasters School of Hair Design, ITT Technical Institute, North Idaho College, Boise Bible College and others are all qualifying institutions where students can use the aid. (Source: Obama Administration.)
- The bill establishes a new competitive grant program for community colleges to improve instruction, work with businesses and improve services. (Source: House Education and Labor Committee.)
- The bill strengthens and expands the Perkins Loan program, a campus-based effort to provide low-cost federal loans to students. (Source: House Education and Labor Committee.)
Links:
- House Education and Labor Committee fact page about the bill.
- Assorted business, industry, labor and education groups supporting the bill.
- Information on how the bill will assist community colleges.
- How the bill will help states improve pre-K and early learning programs.