Political Quotes

“I respect the Senator from Wyoming. I wish to make sure we understand what happened last week. It was a good thing. We basically kept the amount that all student borrowers would pay based on the income they receive. As I understand the bill that was passed last week, which I was happy to support, there is a cap at 15 percent of the discretionary income of graduate students for those loans that are either in the Direct Loan Program or consolidated into the Direct Loan Program. Basically, what it means from the chart I saw is that students, instead of paying back $600 or $700 a month, might face half that amount they would pay back because of the limit they would pay each year of 15 percent discretionary income, which I understand to be gross income less 150 percent of poverty for the student or the graduate in that category. The reason I have come back this week to offer this is because we are talking about a group of individuals who are in an exceptional circumstance. They are people who will face an even greater debt than most college graduates. In addition to their undergraduate debt, they have the debt of a law education, which, as I noted here, can be substantial--almost $80,000 for those who have gone to public law schools, and $50,000 for those in private law schools on top of their undergraduate debt.”