Students might be able to obtain thousands more in government loans if a new college coalition can influence the federal government.
The Coalition for Better Student Loans has released a set of proposals they hope will improve the current federal student-loan programs and ultimately increase the ceiling on the amount of money that college students can borrow from the government.
The coalition drafted these proposals mainly in response to steadily increasing tuition fees and the lack of loan funds that have matched such increases.
Larry Zaglaniczny, of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said loan allotments for first-year students have not risen since 1986, and upperclassmen and graduate student loan availability has not risen since 1992. Under the current system, these rates would last until 2009 or 2010.
“It seems that 24 years is a long time, as is conversely 18 years,” Zaglaniczny said.
Proposals would take the $2,625 borrowing limit for freshmen up to a $4,000 allowance. Similarly, the ceiling for sophomores would jump from $3,500 to $6,000.
From there, students could receive “flexible borrowing accounts” of up to $20,000 to use throughout their remaining college years. They could not collect more than $10,000 within any given year, however.
Currently, students can collect no more than $23,000 over an entire undergraduate career.
“The limits have not kept pace with the cost of attending colleges. Right now the loan program itself is the only silver lining when it comes to higher education costs,” said Jim Boyle, president of College Parents of America. “[Proposals] recognize that costs are rising to varying degrees at schools across the country and families are struggling to meet these costs.”
He added that the prospect of such economic hardships has turned lower-income families away from higher education, something he hopes the proposals would prevent.
Joanna Acocella, director of the Education Finance Council, also said the coalition’s ideas would turn higher education into a universal opportunity.
“We’re trying to increase access to higher education,” she said, noting that the proposals will also work to strengthen loan programs and educate families on how to properly finance college fees.
Robin Cook, national issues director of ASUM, the government representative of the four University of Missouri campuses, has worked with the coalition on the proposals, which he considers an immediate necessity for university systems.
He said the continual tuition increases have left many Missouri students with dried up tuition funds, sometimes making college education a luxury instead of a possibility.
“Students are left with no mechanisms left to pay. What this (proposal) does is increase accessibility and affordability of higher education,” he said.
Cook added that the proposals have not faced a warm reception from all student groups, however. Some student groups feel that if limits are raised, college administrators will raise tuition in turn, he said.
Indeed, the United States Student Association, the American Association of Community Colleges and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities have expressed opposition to the proposals.
In response, the coalition’s proposals would allow colleges to keep their current loan systems if they so desired. Also, colleges could set lower borrowing limits for entire groups of students that have the tendency to drop out of college.
The coalition is also working to eliminate or reduce origination fees, improve repayment options for borrowers in debt and provide leeway on loan fees for borrowers entering the work force with low-paying salaries.
