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EDITORIAL: Putting Students First

Sep. 23—The U.S. House last week passed a student loan bill that was long overdue. The country has lost its edge as a world leader in the rate of college graduation, a status it must recover rapidly if it is to stay competitive globally.

The rising cost of America’s colleges and universities poses a growing obstacle for students. The majority of students piece together loans, grants and scholarships here and there to cover the cost of education. Young graduates are leaving college with debts the equivalent of small mortgage loans. Many others are forced to defer their education because they don’t have the resources to continue or to start.

Soaring enrollment in local community colleges and universities, especially in the middle of a lengthy recession, reflects an increasing demand. For that reason, the goal of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act is crucial — to improve the efficiency of the federal student loan program and make college affordable for more students.

Currently, students can borrow directly from the government or through the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which relies on banks and private lenders such as Sallie Mae that are subsidized by the government to provide federally guaranteed loans. The bill would remove the private lenders as the middleman and channel all new federal student loans to the direct loan program and simplify the paperwork for loan applications.

From the projected savings — $87 billion over 10 years — the bill would boost Pell Grant awards per student to $6,900 by 2019 and also provide funds for community colleges to improve curriculum, job-training and partnerships programs with businesses. The House bill positions the country to raise more college graduates. The Senate must follow suit.

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