U.S. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS VOTES TO EXPAND ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION

Arizona lawmaker says bill passed today will simplify how students receive financial aid

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today voted for legislation aimed at expanding access to higher education by simplifying the way students receive financial aid.

“Investing in education today will pay tremendous dividends tomorrow for individuals, families, businesses and the future prosperity of our nation,” said Giffords. “This bill will expand access to higher education by transforming and simplifying the way our student loan programs are administered.”

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act passed the House this afternoon in a 253 to 171 vote. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Among the bill’s provisions is an increase in the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarship. The current limit of $5,350 would be increased to $5,550 next year and to $6,900 by 2019. Investments in the scholarships total $40 billion nationally and more than $76 million in Giffords’ 8th Congressional District.

“This investment will have a significant impact on Southern Arizona students and their families,” said Giffords. “In my district alone, more than 16,300 students will be eligible for Pell Grants in the 2010-2011 academic year.”

Another direct impact on Southern Arizonans, Giffords said, are the bill’s benefits for veterans. They include expanding aid available under the new GI Bill and allowing service members to transfer credits while in the military.

Passage of the legislation was welcomed by educators in Arizona, which will receive more than $1.8 billion in educational investments over the next decade if the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act is signed into law. The bill was supported by both the University of Arizona and Pima Community College.

“Passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act is a historic moment for community colleges,” said Chancellor Roy Flores. “The act recognizes the key role Pima and the nation’s other community colleges will play in educating and training a workforce that can succeed in the competitive 21st-century global marketplace.”

Students also welcomed passage of the bill. As the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act was being voted on, students from the University of Arizona visited Giffords’ Tucson district office to thank her for her support. They said that for just 300 UA students who attended an on-campus event yesterday, the total debt is projected to be $2.3 million.

Among those students was Lindsey Forry, an 18-year-old freshman. Although she receives academic scholarships, Forry anticipates that she will be $14,000 in debt by the time she graduates in 2013.

“Even with scholarships it’s still hard,” she said. “The amount of debt is disconcerting.”

Cecily Sweet, a 20-year-old UA junior, said the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act represents a wise investment in our economy. “Education is one of the most important things we can do to get us out of the economic crisis we’re in,” she said.

In addition to increasing the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarships, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act also:

• Invests $3 billion to bolster college access and completion support programs for students;

• Strengthens the Perkins Loan program, a campus-based program that provides low-cost federal loans to students, by providing the program with more reliable forms of credit from the federal government and expanding the program to include significantly more college campuses;

• Keeps interest rates low on need-based – or subsidized – federal student loans by making the interest rates on these loans variable beginning in 2012. These interest rates are currently set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in 2012;

• Provides schools with access to funding for green, energy efficient modernization, renovation and repair projects;

• Converts all new federal student lending to the stable, effective and cost-efficient Direct Loan program. Beginning July 1, 2010, all new federal student loans will be originated through the Direct Loan program, instead of through lenders subsidized by taxpayers in the federally-guaranteed student loan program. Unlike the lender-based program, the Direct Loan program is entirely insulated from market swings and can therefore guarantee students access to low-cost federal college loans, in any economy; and

• Increases the number of low-income children entering kindergarten prepared to succeed by reforming state standards and practices for birth-to-five early learning programs. The legislation would create an Early Learning Challenge Fund, which would award competitive grants to states that implement comprehensive standards-based reform of the state’s early learning system that will transform early education standards and practices, build an effective early childhood workforce, and improve the school readiness outcomes of young children.