The recent reconciliation bill, which now waits to go to the full House, includes changes to Pell Grant eligibility, the elimination of Grad PLUS loans and the repeal of key components that are part of Title IV federal student aid.
By Rick Cox
The House Education and Workforce Committee (HEWC) has completed the mark up of their Student Success and Taxpayer Savings Plan reconciliation bill. This bill contains some significant changes to Title IV programs. Once all committees have completed this process, the House will vote on the final reconciliation package. Once this has passed, it must still be approved by the Senate. The Senate and House are very far apart at this point so this might take quite a bit of time to resolve the differences and finalize the reconciliation bill.
Below is a summary of the provisions in the bill. This is not final and as indicated above, this could take quite a bit of time before it is finalized. Some of the items below may change, be eliminated or we might see new items added. Global will continue to provide information on this process as it becomes available.
- Repeal of the 90/10 Rule.
- Repeal of the Gainful Employment Rule.
- Revocation of the Biden administration Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule.
- Revocation of the Biden administration Closed School Discharge Rule.
- Sector neutral expansion of Pell Grant eligibility to students in high-quality programs with lengths between 150 and 600 clock hours (and between 8 and 14 weeks).
- Eliminates Subsidized Stafford Loans.
- Eliminates Grad PLUS loans.
- Changes the annual loan limit for undergraduate and graduate borrowers to be the difference between the median cost of the borrower’s program of study (which includes degree and field/major) and the amount received in a Pell Grant.
- Modifies the annual limit for Parent PLUS borrowers to the cost of attendance minus the student’s annual loan limit.
- Modifies the aggregate maximum amounts that student and parent borrowers can take out, with the maximum being:
o $50,000 for undergraduates (down from $57,500 currently).
o $100,000 for graduate students (down from $138,500 in unsubsidized loans currently, though graduate students can essentially borrow as much as they need over time because of Graduate PLUS)
o $150,000 for professional students (again reduced from the unlimited amount allowed today due to Graduate PLUS)
o $50,000 for Parent PLUS loans (down from the unlimited amount allowed today). - Defining cost of attendance to determine a student’s aid eligibility as the median cost of college for the program of study across the United States. This is a significant change from current policy.
- Eliminating Pell Grant eligibility for less than half-time students.
- Requiring a student to take the equivalent of 30 semester hours each year to qualify as a full-time student and receive the maximum Pell Grant.
- Eliminating Pell Grant eligibility for a student whose Student Aid Index (SAI) exceeds the maximum grant amount by more than 200 percent. As a result, some students at the upper end of the Pell Grant eligibility will not qualify for relatively small grants.
- Eliminates federal aid eligibility for most non-citizens in the U.S. who are here on asylum (among other statuses).
You can access the full bill here.
Rick Cox is Global’s Executive Director of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance