CBSL: Message Points

Message Points

Summary

Nearly everyone agrees – getting a college degree is the ticket to the American Dream. For example, over a lifetime, college graduates earn, on average, $1 million more than individuals with high school degrees. And the benefits society accrues from a well-educated population are immeasurable.

Student loans are becoming an increasingly important source of college financial aid today – making completion of a Bachelor’s degree possible for nearly 61 percent of students.

We all support increased grant aid. But given limited government budgets, loans will increasingly be the best available option for students and their families.

In 1980, grants made up 55 percent of financial aid and loans made up only 41 percent of financial aid. By 2002, these numbers were reversed with grants providing only 39 percent of financial aid and loans providing 54 percent of financial aid.

A college education is one of the most important investments in the future that students and their families can make. Like any major investment, decisions about how to finance the cost of higher education are complicated, but thanks to federal, institutional and other financial aid, college is an option for increasing numbers of young people.

To increase access to higher education for more students, financial aid administrators, parents, schools and loan providers are working together as part of the Coalition for Better Student Loans to improve and strengthen the federal student loan program. The Coalition is proposing a five-part plan to improve college access and ensure that every student who wants to attend college has the financial tools they need, regardless of their personal financial circumstances. The Coalition is urging lawmakers to enact these proposals as part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Our proposals are:

-	Increase Stafford loan limits
-	Provide origination fee relief
-	Provide more flexible repayment options
-	Maintain a viable loan consolidation program
-	Extend loan forgiveness to those working in certain highly needed occupations

The Coalition opposes proposals to permit re-consolidation loans, which would drain crucial federal resources needed for incoming or current students.

Loan consolidation was originally created by Congress to simplify the process of loan repayment for borrowers with multiple lenders and to help lower monthly payments for borrowers in difficult financial circumstances. The Coalition supports use of consolidation loans for those original purposes.

The Coalition’s proposals have wide support across a broad spectrum of the higher education community, including parents, financial aid administrators, schools and loan providers.

The general public also overwhelmingly supports the federal student loan program and believes that student loans are a good investment in the future of America. A recent survey of registered voters demonstrated the strength of this support:

-	86 percent of the public believes that federal student loan limits are too low to pay for college expenses.
-	88 percent of the public believes that Congress should increase federal student loan limits so that students and their families can borrow more money to pay for college.
-	The average annual loan limit supported by the public is $10,110 per year.
-	83 percent of the public believes that the federal student loan program is more important than it was just a few years ago.
-	81 percent of the public believes that Congress should invest in a student loan program that benefits current and future students rather than borrowers who already completed their higher education.

The Coalition for Better Student Loans . 2000 North 14th Street . Suite 800 . Arlington VA 22201-2540 . (703) 797-7134
Hosted by College Parents of America