Submitted by Edmund Fitzgerald (not verified) on July 17, 2009 - 6:22pm.
Eliminating the FFEL, first of all, is not guaranteed to reduce costs to taxpayers on the whole. However, it IS guaranteed to increase costs to individual loan borrowers via the loss of borrower incentive programs (zero-fees, interest rate reductions, etc.)
You know, individual loan borrowers; those of us who don't make enough money to pay for college outright but don't qualify for grants. Those with the lowest income will get their additional grant monies on the backs of the middle class.
Sad thing is, those who will be adversely affected by this change probably don't realize it, since most people know doodly-squat about the financial aid system, how it works, and its propensity to reward bad behavior.
FFEL is in dire need of reform, but eliminating the program is short-sighted and stupid, the result of reactionary dunderheads whose agenda is always to villify business.
And while I'm up here on my soapbox, I'll propose that need-based grants should also be merit-based, and should revert to loans if the recipient drops out of school for any reason other than military service or death.
Student loan reform.
Eliminating the FFEL, first of all, is not guaranteed to reduce costs to taxpayers on the whole. However, it IS guaranteed to increase costs to individual loan borrowers via the loss of borrower incentive programs (zero-fees, interest rate reductions, etc.)
You know, individual loan borrowers; those of us who don't make enough money to pay for college outright but don't qualify for grants. Those with the lowest income will get their additional grant monies on the backs of the middle class.
Sad thing is, those who will be adversely affected by this change probably don't realize it, since most people know doodly-squat about the financial aid system, how it works, and its propensity to reward bad behavior.
FFEL is in dire need of reform, but eliminating the program is short-sighted and stupid, the result of reactionary dunderheads whose agenda is always to villify business.
And while I'm up here on my soapbox, I'll propose that need-based grants should also be merit-based, and should revert to loans if the recipient drops out of school for any reason other than military service or death.