On the losing end: from the subprime mortgage crisis to the subsequent credit crunch, minorities are feeling the heat

Diverse Issues in Higher Education, May 1, 2008 by Michelle J. Nealy

Recently, the House Education and Labor Committee approved bipartisan legislation to ensure that the turmoil in the U.S. credit markets does not prevent students or parents from accessing the financial aid they need to pay for college.

If enacted into law, the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 would provide new protections to ensure that families continue to have timely, uninterrupted access to federal college loans.

The bill seeks to reduce borrowers' reliance on costlier private loans by increasing the annual loan limits on federal college loans by $2,000 for all students, and by increasing the aggregate loan limits to $31,000 for dependent undergraduates and $57,500 for independent undergraduates. The bill would also give parent borrowers more time to begin paying off their federal PLUS loans by providing them with the option to defer repayment up to six months following their children's college graduation--giving families more flexibility in difficult economic times.

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