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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 19 March 2019

White House proposes caps on student loan borrowing

By COLLIN BINKLEY by reducing the amount tion Act. “I share the ad-
AP Education Writer of federal aid for students ministration’s goals to make
The Trump administration and taking billions out of a college education worth
on Monday proposed new the pockets of borrowers,” it and to make it simpler to
limits on federal student she said. apply for federal student
loans taken out by parents Borrower advocates said aid and pay back student
and graduate students as they welcome attention to loans,” he said.
part of a broader proposal the topic but don’t think the Several items on the White
to curb the cost of college. White House plan will help. House’s wish list were also
White House officials in- Federal loans for students’ included in the Education
cluded the plan in a list of parents and graduate stu- Department’s budget pro-
suggested changes to the dents total about $25 billion posal for next year, includ-
Higher Education Act, a a year, compared to $151 ing the elimination of pub-
sweeping federal law that billion in total federal stu- lic service loan forgiveness,
governs student lending. dent loans. a program that can erase
The legislation is getting its In this Sept. 25, 2017 file photo, Ivanka Trump stands before James Kvaal, president of debt for certain borrowers
first overhaul from Congress President Donald Trump signs a memorandum to expand access the nonprofit Institute for after 120 months of repay-
in more than a decade. to STEM, science technology engineering and math, education, College Access & ment.
Ivanka Trump, the daugh- in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Success, said the plan Instead, the White House
ter and adviser of President Associated Press takes the wrong approach, says all federal borrowers
Donald Trump, unveiled and has more than tripled able. adding that there’s “no should get undergraduate
the plan at a meeting of since 2003. Colleges often argue they evidence” the availability debt wiped clean after 180
the National Council for The White House’s pro- have been forced to raise of federal loans has led to months of repayment.
the American Worker, an posed solution is to cap tuition to make up for re- higher college costs. Education Secretary Betsy
advisory group that Ivanka federal loan programs duced funding from their “The solution is to invest DeVos praised the White
Trump helps lead. available to students’ par- states. Many Democrats more in Pell scholarships House plan as “an impor-
“We need to modernize our ents and to graduate stu- have echoed that position, for low-income students, to tant roadmap for working
higher-education system to dents. The plan doesn’t with some calling for great- work with states to make with Congress to rethink
make it more affordable, propose specific limits, but er government support for public colleges and univer- higher education and pass
flexible and outcomes- officials suggested it could schools. sities more affordable,” said meaningful reforms.” She
oriented, so all Americans, vary based on academic Sen. Patty Murray, the top Kvaal, who is also a former added that legislation to
young and old, can learn program. Democrat on the Senate policy adviser to President simplify lending “should be
the skills they need to se- Underpinning that idea is education committee, Barack Obama. passed immediately.”
cure and retain good-pay- a belief that colleges are says the plan misses the White House officials say The White House is also ask-
ing jobs,” Ivanka Trump said largely responsible for the “root cause” of the prob- they also want to simplify ing Congress to make fed-
on a call with reporters. nation’s debt woes. The lem: “that college costs the loan repayment pro- eral Pell grants available to
A primary goal of the pro- White House says easy ac- are rising exponentially and cess, a goal shared with be used in short-term cer-
posal is to curb the growth cess to federal aid has led most students can’t afford Sen. Lamar Alexander, R- tificate programs, and to
of college tuition rates and colleges to drive up prices, college without taking on Tenn., who chairs the Sen- take other steps intended
reduce the nation’s stu- adding that they are “un- massive amounts of debt.” ate education committee to help workers gain skills
dent debt load, which has able or unwilling” to make “In fact, this proposal would and is leading the push to outside of traditional col-
reached nearly $1.5 trillion education more afford- end up hurting students update the Higher Educa- leges and universities.q