Got that wrong. Secreted in the "reconciliation package" that the administration and the Republican majority in Congress are pushing is a staggering $12.7 billion cut in student loan programs?the largest cut in history.
That bulk of that cut will be paid in the form of higher interest rates and fees paid by students and their parents. On average, students will face an additional $2,000 in interest payments; parents an additional $3,000.
As for private lenders that provide student loans?they'll make out just fine. Rather than significantly cutting subsidies to private lenders, Rep. John Boehner?an architect of this legislation and a candidate for House majority leader?targeted working families for the cuts. As The Chronicle of Higher Education reports, Boehner met in December with private student lenders, who contribute handsomely to his campaigns, and said: "Relax. Stay calm. At the end of the day, I believe you'll be at least satisfied, or even perhaps happy. Know that I have all of you in my two trusted hands."
Those "trusted hands" don't protect students like Tiffany Cooper, or their parents. An additional $2,000 in costs doesn't seem like much to legislators like Boehner, who collect more in individual checks from well-heeled contributors. But for working families struggling to make ends meet, it cruelly adds to already growing burdens. College tuitions have gone up a staggering 40 percent in the last five years. State support for public universities has been cut. The Republican Congress, violating a promise Bush made while campaigning, has frozen maximum Pell Grants at the same level for the fourth straight year. The vast majority of students now borrow to help finance college. The average loan burden a student carries upon graduation is more than $19,000. Students from working families have little choice but to pile up debt, even while working part-time and piecing together grant opportunities.
