.....colleges lost the authority to make new federal Perkins loans. Students currently enrolled in college who received a Perkins loan before June 30 will be still be able to take out another for up to five years.. About 540,000 students received Perkins loans, averaging about $2,172, for the 2013-14 academic year, according the U.S. Department of Education.
Perkins was created in 1958 to provide low-interest loans to needy students through a cost-sharing agreement between the federal government and colleges. Congress has not contributed money to the program for about a decade. Instead, the 1,500 schools that offer Perkins loans rely on their own contributions and repayment from prior recipients to fund the loans.
The loans carry a 5 percent interest rate and are subsidized, meaning the government pays the interest while the student is in school. But with interest rates on federal Stafford loans below 5 percent for the last few years, the rate on Perkins loans is not as favorable as it used to be.
“Our goal is to simplify the system, make it easier for students to apply for grants and loans…and the Perkins loan is not as effective a loan in meeting those goals as the other loans that we have,” Sen. Alexander. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...l-aid-program/



Reply With Quote

Bookmarks