PHEAA
Many families and students have contacted me
regarding the 2008-09 FY Budget and the
appropriation for the PA Higher Education
Assistance Agency (PHEAA), many asking for a
10% increase ($38.6 million) in funding for
the Agency.
As you may be aware, the issue being faced
by PHEAA is not state-related. Rather,
there are issues in the federal markets and
changes in federal regulations that have
impacted the lending operations of many
organizations just like PHEAA. While we
will certainly make this a priority in our
budget deliberations, we are also
encouraging constituents to contact their US
Senators and Congressman to urge action at
the federal level. PHEAA Board Members have
been lobbying hard to encourage action by
the US Secretary of Education and the US
Secretary of the Treasury for them to take
action to ensure that students will continue
to have access to student loans. I
encourage you to share how this crisis will
impact you with those individuals as well.
Sample letters and additional information
are available on PHEAA’s website (www.pheaa.org)
if you need more information. For your
reference, I have also enclosed a fact sheet
that provides more information about PHEAA’s
actions.
FACT SHEET
We were just recently informed that due
to PHEAA efforts to make the relevant
parties in Washington, D.C. aware of the
crisis, Congress took swift action over
the past few days by passing H.R. 5715,
entitled, "The Ensuring Continued Access
to Student Loans Act of 2008." The
President has indicated that he will
sign the bill. The legislation provides
the following noteworthy provisions:
* Increases the Federal Stafford Loan limits that
undergraduate students are eligible for
* Provides a grace period for repayment of Parent PLUS Loans
until six months after the student
graduates
* Further provides for the Lender of Last Resort
(LLR) by granting additional authority
to the U.S. Secretary of Education to
ensure that students will have access to
the necessary financing tools this
summer and fall, and
* Establishes the U.S. Department of Education as
a secondary market for the purpose of
purchasing federal student loans to free
up liquidity for future lending.
H.R. 5715 is a positive first step toward providing
funding solutions ensuring that
students across the nation will have
access to higher education
opportunities.
