One of President Obama’s leading domestic policy advisers admits the president has yet to figure out a way to afford the $6 billion price tag on a one-year Stafford Loan interest rate freeze, stating, “That really isn’t the issue.” On NPR’s Diane Rehm Show yesterday, host Susan Page pressed Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director Mark Zuckerman for answers on the president’s claim a temporary exte... Read more »
Student loan borrowers continue to come forward with troubling stories of the problems plaguing the Department of Education’s management of the Direct Loan Program and, worse, the Obama administration’s seeming inability to address widespread complaints. An article in today’s edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education describes the myriad challenges borrowers confront with the Direct Loan Progra... Read more »
U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) issued the following statement today as President Obama begins his campaign push to temporarily freeze the interest rate on subsidized Stafford Loans made to undergraduate students: “Bad policy based on lofty campaign promises has put us in an untenable situation. We must now choose between allowing interest rates to ri... Read more »
In recent months, a growing number of student loan borrowers and institution leaders have stepped forward to voice complaints about the federal government’s implementation of the Direct Loan Program, which oversees and originates every new federal higher education loan in the country. According to an article in Wednesday’s Inside Higher Ed, “Persistent problems have plagued the Education Departmen... Read more »
Since Democrats put the Department of Education in charge of originating and overseeing every new higher education loan in the country, a growing number of borrowers have expressed frustration with a range of problems plaguing the Direct Loan Program, from poor customer service and breaches in personal security to an ineffective loan rehabilitation process that puts borrowers’ credit in jeopardy. ... Read more »
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), today held a hearing to discuss the administration’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget and policy priorities for the Department of Education. The Honorable Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, testified during the hearing. In his budget proposal, the president has requested $69.8 billion in discretionary spending for the ... Read more »
Welcome back, Secretary Duncan, to the Education and the Workforce Committee. We realize your time is valuable and we appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today about the president’s budget proposal. When we met this time last year, we discussed the importance of using taxpayer dollars wisely, particularly in these times of economic instability. We identified areas of education spending th... Read more »
Inefficiencies in the implementation and management of the federal Direct Loan program may be creating headaches for students and putting borrowers’ credit at risk, according to a letter sent today by several House and Senate Republicans to Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. The letter was signed by House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN), ... Read more »
On Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will testify before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce on the president’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request for the Department of Education. If the secretary’s recent appearance in front of the House Appropriations Committee is any indication, we can expect to hear a lot of rhetoric on the administration’s preferred education policie... Read more »
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation to repeal two excessive federal regulations affecting colleges and universities. The Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act received bipartisan support in a vote of 303 to 114. Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who introduced the Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Ed... Read more »
