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Sen. Schumer calling on colleagues to extend program that benefits thousands of students at St. Lawrence County colleges

Posted 10/16/15

Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on his colleagues to extend a program that will benefit thousands of students attending St. Lawrence County colleges. The Perkins Student Loan Program expired Sept. …

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Sen. Schumer calling on colleagues to extend program that benefits thousands of students at St. Lawrence County colleges

Posted

Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on his colleagues to extend a program that will benefit thousands of students attending St. Lawrence County colleges.

The Perkins Student Loan Program expired Sept. 30, jeopardizing the education of students across the country, including those in St. Lawrence County, who rely on the program to attend college.

The House of Representatives has passed an extension unanimously and now Schumer says he will call on Senate Republicans to take up and immediately pass the extension of the Perkins Loan Program.

Schumer said in a time when college costs are skyrocketing and students are straining under massive debt, it does not make sense to cut off a vital federal student loan program for those with financial need.

“With the cost of college continuing to increase, congress should be doing more, not less, to make college affordable,” said Schumer. “That’s why I am urging my colleagues in the Senate to extend the Higher Education Extension Act of 2015, for one year to prevent the Perkins Loan program stalling any longer.”

The Perkins Loan Program provides low-interest loans to students who cannot borrow or afford more expensive private student loans. Specifically, the program aids over half a million students nationwide with financial need by providing fixed interest rates and loan forgiveness options. Schumer said this program provides $120 million in aid to New York colleges.

The Federal Perkins Loan program has provided low-interest federal student loans at the rate of 5 percent. An undergraduate student may be eligible to receive up to $5,500 per year with the total amount one can borrow set at $27,500. A graduate student may be eligible to borrow up to $8,000 per year with the total amount one can borrow set at $60,000 per year; this includes amounts borrowed as an undergraduate.

According to the State University of New York (SUNY) System, the Perkins Loan program provided 539,444 college students with aid last year, including 55,958 in New York. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the Perkins program provided roughly $1.7 billion in financial aid to students nationwide during the 2013-2014 academic year, including approximately $124,215,521 to students attending New York colleges.

Despite the program’s success in making college more affordable to low- to moderate- income students over the last 57 years, Schumer said the Senate allowed the program to lapse.

Schumer said there is no excuse for the Senate to not extend this program, especially when the House of Representatives has already passed the extension unanimously. This could leave roughly 1,700 colleges and universities nationwide, including 122 institutions across New York, along with more than 55,000 students in the lurch this year if this program is not restored. One third of Perkins Loan Program students’ families earn less than $30,000 per year.

Schumer said that because this program provides these low-interest loans for students who typically cannot borrow or afford more expensive private student loans, it could jeopardize the college education of many students across NY and the country if this program is not reauthorized and extended.

While the program expired Sept. 30, Schumer said congress must act soon, before second semester tuition payments are due and students and colleges alike are left in the lurch.

Students who receive a Perkins loan during the 2015-2016 academic year or before and remain in the same academic program will be eligible to be grandfathered into the program and receive loans through ‎the end of their program, or up to 5 years.