The bill represents the largest student aid cut in the history of the program, adds U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. “Republican leaders here in Washington have no vision for the future.”
But Republicans counter that those charges are overblown and that the budget plan will help students while it reins in federal spending. Some student-friendly measures, they say, include provisions to raise loan limits for first- and second-year students and cut loan origination fees.
“The bill provides the best possible policy given the budget constraints facing the nation,” says committee chairman U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, who adds that the bill “reflects our long-term goals of expanding college access for low- and middle-income students and securing the retirement of American workers.”
Among other provisions, he says, the bill will reduce loan fees, ease the financial aid process and expand flexibility. It also will cut subsidies to lenders.
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