House passes massive student aid bill
Today the House passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 — known as SAFRA — which would give $40 billion to increase maximum Pell Grants and make the government the provider of nearly all college loans.
National Journal writes the bill would “shift federal student lending entirely into the hands of the government — a momentous change from the current system, where private banks disburse about 75 percent of such loans.”
It would also give $10 billion to community colleges, $8 billion to early childhood programs, $2.55 billion for historically black colleges, strengthen the Pell program and cut down on the number of questions on a FAFSA.
SAFRA was a top priority for the United States Student Association and the US Public Interest Research Group. The ASUO has a membership in USSA, and two of the three UO students who sit on the USSA Board of DIrectors — ASUO VP Getachew Kassa and Legislative Affairs Coordinator Robert Greene (the other is Sen.-Designate Carina Miller) — recently spoke with the Emerald about the importance of passing SAFRA for profiles that will appear in our Back to the Books issue. (It will now look a little dated given that the issue already went to press.)
The ASUO ended its contract with the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group this year. OSPIRG’s critics repeatedly charged the group with taking credit for legislation like this without any tangible proof that students helped in its passage.
The advocacy groups are getting some play today in articles about SAFRA’s passage. In the New York Times article, Rich Williams, identified as the “higher education associate for U.S. PIRG” said, “This legislation helps renew the promise of student aid programs for the tens of millions of students who rely on grants, loans and access to community college to achieve a college education.”
National Journal writes that Ben Henderson, director of the Arizona Student Association chapter at the University of Arizona at Tempe, “is on academic scholarship but felt the need to get involved anyway. ASA held a kick-off event last week to educate students on (SAFRA) that was attended by 100 people; this week, students filled out cards describing their struggle with debt and their support for the bill, which Henderson brought to their local congressman.”
More activism: “In coordination with U.S. PIRG, (USSA) and Campus Progress, students around the country built ‘walls of debt’ to symbolize the barrier graduates face under the burden of heavy loans. Paper ‘bricks,’ featuring the debt level of individual student signers, were delivered to local congressional offices. About 7,500 students participated, PIRG said.”
It seemed the ASUO Executive planned to do some organizing on campus, which can probably still happen since the bill needs to pass the Senate. The times says the Senate will take up the bill later this month, “amid stepped-up efforts from private lenders to block a change they say will cost thousands of jobs.” Democratic leaders think it will pass, but it will clearly be a tougher sell than in the House.
“Several Republican senators have already come out against the proposals, and not all Democrats can be counted on to back it,” National Journal reports. “In an echo of the fight over health care reform, the student loan debate in the upper chamber is likely to pit critics who call it a government takeover against proponents pushing more affordable access.”
Still, most of this will likely pass both chambers. And once it does, what is on USSA’s and the executive’s agenda? Just sayin’: President Kallaway presents student association lobbying and the board positions of ASUO members — she is likely the next Oregon Student Association board chair — as among her chief accomplishments this summer. The trouble may be that when SAFRA passes, and should the DREAM Actpass, the executive won’t have much to talk about.
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