United Negro College Fund Leads Way in Cutting College Costs
Following Congressional passage by an overwhelming majority, President Bush recently signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act into law. The United Negro College Fund was a leader in the broad-based coalition that supported the bill from introduction through final passage.
This measure will represent the single largest investment in higher education since the GI Bill, and will avoid additional taxes through savings resulting from the reduction of federal subsidies to lenders in the commercial student loan industry.
The bill’s highlights include: increasing the federal investment in historically black colleges and universities by a total of $170 million over two years; increasing the maximum Pell Grant award by 25 percent over five years, from today’s maximum of $4,310 to $5,400 by 2012; protecting low- and moderate-income student loan borrowers by guaranteeing that their loan payments will not exceed 15 percent of their discretionary income, and by forgiving loans to borrowers with economic hardship after 25 years; reducing interest rates on student loans for more than 5 million low- and middle-income student borrowers receiving subsidized Stafford loans.
Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President And CEO of the United Negro College Fund stated that at a time when a college degree is a prerequisite to launching almost every good career, the increasing cost of attending college has made it difficult or impossible for students from low- and moderate-income families to get the education they need and deserve. The Act’s 25 percent increase in Pell Grants and tying student loan repayment to income level will be important steps in opening college doors to the young men and women who are our future scientists, teachers and doctors..#
Learn more about UNCF at www.uncf.org.
