Colleges and universities are ramping up their efforts to preserve a federal student loan program that some congressional Republicans are eyeing for elimination in the next several weeks.
The Federal Perkins Loan Program, which allows colleges to make loans of typically several thousand dollars to certain students, will expire on Sept. 30 unless Congress acts to reauthorize it.
The program is relatively small for the federal government. Last year, more than 500,000 students received Perkins Loans totaling more than $1 billion. That’s only a fraction of the roughly $150 billion in student loans and grants the federal government awards each year.
Still, many colleges and universities view the Perkins program as important to the financial aid packages they create for students -- especially because institutions have more flexibility in how the funds are awarded than is true for most other federal aid.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/03/colleges-fight-save-expiring-federal-loan-program-some-republicans-eye-its-demise