Posts Tagged: student loan debt

New England Legislative Sessions: Priorities Shift Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

The 2020 state legislative sessions started off “business as usual,” but this legislative year has quickly become anything but usual. The recent state-by-state implementation of aggressive social distancing measures to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19 effectively ended most states’ 2020 legislative sessions. Massachusetts—the only New England state legislature that continues to meet...

Bubble Wrap: Higher Education and the Value Gap

A recent report by the College Board might be an indicator of how fast the sands of higher education are shifting. The prices that most people actually pay for college, which had remained stable for several years, are on the rise again, as tuition and other cost increases outpace financial aid awards.In its latest annual survey, the College Board reports that after rising swiftly since the 1980s, ...

DC Shuttle: Congress Begins Examining Obama Ed Proposals

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified in support of the administration's recent proposed higher education reforms at a Tuesday hearing of the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee with jurisdiction over education. Subcommittee Chair Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) both criticized the administration for proposing level-funding for major formula grants wh...

DC Shuttle: Obama Moves to Ease Student Loan Debt

On Wednesday, President Obama announced a new proposal to ease the burden of student loan debt. The "Know Before You Owe" initiative will allow students with multiple government-backed loans to consolidate them into one loan under the federal Direct Loan program with an interest rate reduction of 0.25% to 0.5%. The administration estimated that about 5.8 million students could be eligible for loan...