The Federal Perkins Loan Program, which died nearly three months ago, may be brought back to life — in altered form.
The U.S. Senate is expected to take up a bill as early as Wednesday that would revive and extend Perkins for two years, while limiting eligibility for the program. The proposed restrictions, which would cover the cost of continuing the program, include limiting it to undergraduates (though current graduate recipients could receive loans through the 2016-17 academic year) and requiring recipients to reach the borrowing limit on unsubsidized Stafford Loans before obtaining Perkins Loans.
Under the moribund program, graduate students could receive Perkins Loans and colleges could award the loans to students who had not yet exhausted their Stafford eligibility. Unsubsidized Stafford Loans currently carry higher interest rates than Perkins Loans, which were fixed at 5 percent.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Perkins-Loan-Program-Would/234626