Good News

Key Points in the Bill

• Keeps interest rates low on need-based — or subsidized — federal student loans by making the interest rates on these loans variable beginning in 2012. These interest rates are currently set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent in 2012.
  
  
• Invests $40 billion to increase the maximum annual Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019. Starting in 2011, the scholarship will be linked to match rising costs-of-living by indexing it to the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percent.
  
  
• Invests $3 billion to bolster college access and completion support programs for students. It will increase funding for the College Access Challenge Grant Program, and will also fund innovative programs at states and institutions that focus on increasing financial literacy and helping retain and graduate students.
  
  
• Strengthens the Perkins Loan program, a campus-based program that provides low-cost federal loans to students, by providing the program with more reliable forms of credit from the federal government and expanding the program to include significantly more college campuses.
  
  
• Makes it easier for families to apply for financial aid by simplifying the FAFSA form. Building on proposals recently put forth by the Obama administration, the legislation will dramatically cut down the number of questions on the form by allowing students and families to apply for aid using the information on their tax returns.