Timothy H. Bishop: “I have many good things to say about this bill. I urge my colleagues to support it, but let me focus on a couple of…”

“I have many good things to say about this bill. I urge my colleagues to support it, but let me focus on a couple of quick things. First, it is a long overdue and much-needed infusion of support for Federal need-based financial aid programs. It raises the Pell Grant maximum from $4,310 to $5,200 over a period of years. It increases the Federal capital contribution for the Perkins loan program, a program, by the way, that this administration seems intent on killing, and it increases loan limits so that students will have access to greater support. In doing all of those things, we help students avoid what has become termed the 'wild west' of student lending, that is, the private loan market. We have driven students to the private loan market because we have not properly supported the programs that currently exist. And with these increases, we will be properly supporting those programs. And lastly, the reduction in the interest rates has been characterized by the other side as not affecting access or affordability and, in fact, it does.”