Jim Baird: “I want to address a fundamental problem in our current education and support system and it is this, people who are not…”

“I want to address a fundamental problem in our current education and support system and it is this, people who are not able because they lack the money to go to school on their own expense are not eligible for student loans if they can't go more than half time. Ironically, this means that some of the people who are most in need of student loans, and very often most deserving of student loans, are ineligible for such loans. The one law we haven't been able to repeal in Congress is the law of unintended consequences, and this is an unintended consequence. We should not say to hardworking men and women who would like to go back to school to improve their education, improve their standard of living, no, you can't get any Federal help unless you have the time to go more than half time. It just doesn't work. I have spoken to young, hardworking students who say, look, I am doing everything right. I am trying to raise my family. I am working for a living. I am paying my bills. I would like to take courses, but I can't afford to do so without a loan, and yet I am ineligible for the loan. What our amendment does is simply ask the Department to conduct a study of the pros and cons of providing less than half-time students, making them eligible for student loans and of possibly establishing a pilot program to see how this can best be done. This amendment has broad support.…”