Early Ed., Community College Initiative, Facilities Aid Out of Student Loan Bill
Mixed news for some Obama administration and Democratic priorities on the student loan front.
It looks like student loans are indeed hitching a ride with the health care overhaul legislation. And Congress, indeed, is on the brink of requiring that all loans be originated through the Direct Loan program, in which students borrow right from the U.S. Treasury. This would effectively end the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which uses subsidized lenders. Subsidized lenders would compete to "service loans."
The unfortunate news, from the perspective of some education advocates? It appears the Early-Learning Challenge Fund, which was intended to help states expand and bolster prekindergarten programs, didn't make it into the bill. Neither did new money to help revamp community colleges, or dollars aimed at school facilities. The programs were in the version of the bill passed by the House of Representatives last fall.
By the time the bill made it to legislative prime time, there just wasn't enough money left over to pay for those programs, in part because of the high demand
