CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON HIGHLIGHTS ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC COLLEGE AID PACKAGE

Landmark Law Increases Pell Grants for 650,790 Students in Texas,
Making College More Affordable

Washington, D.C. – (Thursday, March 31, 2011) - Congresswoman Johnson is marking the anniversary of the historic college aid package, which is the largest investment in college aid in our nation’s history – at no cost to America’s taxpayers.  Instead this investment is paid for by eliminating taxpayer subsidies to banks.

“The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act is making college more affordable for millions of American students – helping to prepare America’s young people for the jobs and careers of the 21^st century,” said Congresswoman Johnson.  “These investments are made at no cost to U.S. taxpayers and instead are paid for by getting rid of wasteful taxpayer subsidies to America’s banks.”

The law invests $74,593,356 in Texas’s 30^th Congressional District and $2,476,399,998 in the state of Texas over the next 10 years to increase the maximum Pell Grant to $5,550 in 2010 and to $5,975 by 2017.  Starting in 2013, the scholarships will be linked to match rising costs-of-living by indexing it to the Consumer Price Index. This includes an investment of $13.5 billion to fund a shortfall in the Pell Grant scholarship program due to increased demand for the scholarship. Pell Grants enable millions of young people to go to college who otherwise would not be able to attend.

The law also invests $750 million in initiatives that bolster college access and completion support, including key efforts to help institutions retain their students.  The bill will result in $59,228,445 over the next five years for these initiatives for students in Texas.

In addition, this landmark law invests $307,396,990 in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions in Texas to provide students with the support they need to stay in school and graduate. Invests $2 billion in a competitive grant program for community colleges to develop and improve educational or career training programs.

The new law also makes federal student loans more affordable for borrowers to repay – strengthening the Income-Based Repayment program that a Democratic-controlled Congress created in 2007.  Finally, the legislation makes student loans more efficient, reliable and stable – by converting all new federal student lending to the stable, effective and cost-efficient Direct Loan program.  This saves taxpayers billions of dollars and also improves the loan program for students. 

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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. She is also the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas that includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Turtle Creek,Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.