Take Part: Al Franken May Succeed in Simplifying the Financial Aid Process

Anyone who has ever applied for college financial aid knows how confusing it can be.

Many times, students—and parents—will incur debt that will haunt them years after college is in the rearview mirror.

That’s why this week Minnesota Sen. Al Franken reintroduced a bill, The Understanding the True Cost of College Act, to create a universal financial aid award letter. And surprisingly, in the hostile Washington climate, Republicans and Democrats have signed on as cosponsors.

“My legislation will require schools to use a universal financial aid letter so students and their families will know exactly how much college will cost and will help them compare apples to apples when deciding what school a student will attend,” Franken said in a statement.

A press release by Franken’s office states that schools do not use standard definitions or names for different types of aid. That means parents and students cannot often differentiate between grant aid, which doesn’t require repayment, and student loans, which must be repaid.

Franken’s timing on the issue is pitch-perfect, as the student loan debate is raging in Washington.

This Is Why We Can’t Let Student Loan Interest Rates Double on July 1st

There’s the July 1 deadline, when student loan interest rates on new subsidized Stafford loans will double unless Congress acts. Last week, more than 2,000 MoveOn.org members delivered their student debt stories to members of Congress. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has an online petition calling for students to receive the same low interest rates on their loans that Wall Street banks receive.

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© U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website, 2013. |
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