SCTA Newsletter

• Increases and expands student aid programs, including Pell Grants, SEOG (State Opportunity Grants), HOPE Scholarship Tax Credit.
• Will make Pell Grants a mandatory program in the federal budget, by making current levels of the Pell Grants mandatory while continuing to include increases for Pell Grants as college costs increase.
• Reduces fees and other costs associated with student aid, such as origination fees.  This means that when you apply for a student loan, the school that you attend will deduct a reduced fee to process your check out of your original loan amount.  Currently these fees are very high and takes away more funds from students who need every dollar borrowed to pay for their education.
• Provides a tax credit, reducing the time a person's income in the public sector can be contingent (based on income earned and not on the amount of the loan or the repayment schedule).  This will provide relief for low income students and their families. Also if the bill is passed, it will allow the student opportunity to refinance the student loan if the market is favorable with home mortgages, but only after graduation and after working for a certain number of years.

Unfortunately, this bill is not expected to survive - unless it gets support from you.
www.nea.org/he/leg-news/senate.html.