One of the nation’s oldest student federal loan programs expired due to a lack of Congressional support Wednesday, affecting approximately 1,700 public and private U.S. colleges and universities.
The Federal Perkins Loan granted money to institutions where low-income undergraduate and graduate students can borrow money directly from their school.
Several Wisconsin politicians including U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., along with university administrators, lobbied to extend the loan program for an additional year.
"I just think the smart thing to do is extend it for a year, and then get into the nitty-gritty details of any types of reforms we might want to have to the overall program in the context of the Higher Education Act," Baldwin said on the Senate floor Tuesday, according to a video recording of her speech.
Over 5,000 UW-Madison students relied on the Federal Perkins Loan during the 2014-’15 academic year, which caught the attention of UW System President Ray Cross.
“We are proud that Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation and our higher education community took a lead role in the bipartisan national effort to maintain this program,” Cross said in a release Wednesday. “We are grateful ... and we will continue to work with our delegation and others in Congress to explore any alternative avenues to maintain the program.”
In an Aug. 31 interview, UW-Madison Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid Susan Fischer said even with the expiration of the loan, students who properly accepted the loan could still receive financial support from this program for the 2015-’16 year.
