Easily overlooked as the year-long health care debate in Congress came to its conclusion was the groundbreaking student loan reforms and support for community colleges also included in the measure.
“Pell grants for the students in the Northern Mariana Islands are going to increase to $5,550 in 2010 and to $5,975 by 2017, as a result of this bill,” Sablan said.
“That’s an extra $4.4 million helping students get the college education they need and putting more money into our local economy, too.”
The bill will pump another $7.5 million in the Northern Mariana Islands through programs such as the College Access Challenge Grants, which is aimed at increasing the number of low-income students entering college.
The bill will also help lower the interest rates on college tuition loans by cutting out the middle man and lending directly from the federal government to college students.
Sablan is an original co-sponsor of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, H.R. 3221, on which the Reconciliation Act provisions are based. That bill passed the House in September, 2009, but the Senate had not acted on it until recently.
During debate on the House floor in September, Sablan summed up his reasons for support this way:
“Higher education is truly the investment of a lifetime — it creates opportunities and opens doors that will benefit our students and families far into the future.”
His words were echoed in a statement made by Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., after the House action: “The strength of our economy and the greatness of our country depend on the opportunities Americans have to pursue their dreams. We have opened an important door today for every American, a major accomplishment for which we can all be genuinely proud.”
For more information on the student loan reforms the House passed, click here .
