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Senator Kennedy, Champion for Student Aid, Died Tuesday Evening

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, 77, a long-term champion for education and health care, died on Tuesday, August 26, 2009, after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He was diagnosed with a malignant glioma after suffering from a seizure in May 2008. His death ended a 46-year career in the US Senate and service as chair of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).

I first met Senator Kennedy in 1985, when I was one of three Massachusetts top 40 finalists in the 44th Westinghouse Science Talent Search. He is one of three role models who inspire my work. (The others are Admiral H.G. Rickover and Albert Einstein.) Senator Kennedy was the greatest of statesmen, using politics as a means to improving the lives of others.

The following are a few of the highlights of his efforts to improve student financial aid, after his election to the US Senate in 1962 to finish the term of his brother, John F. Kennedy, who was elected President in 1960.

1965. Established the National Teacher Corps, a scholarship program for students who agreed to teach for at least two years in national need areas.

1972. Worked with Senator Clairborne Pell to establish the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, later renamed the Pell Grant.

1993. Established the Direct Lending program through passage of the Budget Reconciliation Act. Created the AmeriCorps program and the Corporation for National and Community Service through the National and Community Service Trust Act. Established income-contingent repayment through the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

2007. Sponsored the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the largest increase in student aid funding since the GI Bill. This legislation increased Pell Grant funding, cut interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduate students, created the TEACH grants and established income-based repayment and public service loan forgiveness.

2008. Provided liquidity to education lenders to prevent a catastrophic failure of the federally-guaranteed student loan program through the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. Established improved transparency and disclosure requirements for student loans in the wake of the student loan conflicts of interest scandal, introduced a simplified EZ FAFSA financial aid application for low income students, proposed standardization of financial aid award letters, expanded early awareness efforts and reauthorized the Higher Education Act through the Higher Education Opportunity Act.

2009. The Serve America Act tripled the number of AmeriCorps volunteer positions and pegs the educational award to the maximum Pell Grant. It also established Silver Scholar education awards for volunteers age 55 and older and the Summer of Service program for students in grades 6-12. These education awards may be used to pay for college or to pay off education loans.

Mark Kantrowitz is a nationally recognized financial aid expert and publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com.

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