Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 5 - Issue 6

On Monday, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) released updates to its entrance and exit counseling required for federal student loan borrowers. The updates include more streamlined modules that allow borrowers to see what their loan payments under different repayment plans could look like, and a tool that allows borrowers to determine their repayment strategy. The modules also include different counseling material based on whether a borrower is an undergraduate or graduate student. FSA also included a new feature that allows those completing a borrower defense application to do so in Spanish.

What financial aid administrators need to know about the legislative changes ahead.

Most student loan borrowers won’t get a tax break this year.

An interactive way to explore who gains most from canceling student debt.

The following bill(s) have been recently introduced for consideration by the 117th Congress (2011-2022):

S. 383 – Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers (POST Act [Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)] would bar for-profit colleges and universities from receiving more than 85 percent of their revenue from the federal government and change the calculation of federal revenue to include all federal funds, such as G.I. benefits for veterans and servicemembers. A companion bill, H.R. 1222, was introduced in the House by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-9).

H.R. 1143 – Lenders Offer Assistance Now (LOAN) Act [Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI-5)] would create a path for borrowers to discharge federal and private student loans through bankruptcy, require private student loan lenders to discharge a loan if a student becomes permanently disabled, and prohibits private lenders from accelerating a student loan repayment schedule when a co-signer becomes disabled.