One of our favorite National Guard soldiers tells the tale of how difficult for her to return textbooks at a MnSCU school when she was called up to serve in Iraq. Eventually, she was given a refund upon return of the books to the campus bookstore, but she had to beg for permission, all the way up to her school's president.
Yesterday, Tim Walz signed on to legislation that will help reservists/students with even bigger financial problems a call-up can pose:
Today, Congressman Walz signed on as a cosponsor of the Veterans Tuition and Support Act (VETS) of 2007, which provides assistance and financial protection for servicemembers who are in the process of earning a degree or paying back educational loans.
“This legislation guarantees basic safeguards for military reservists who are called to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan in the midst of their college careers,” said Walz. “Too many of our youngest veterans are facing unique hardships associated with the interruption of their schooling and the repayment of their student loans.”
Walz continued, “This bill is an extra measure to both ensure a soldier’s financial security while he or she is deployed and to simplify his or her continued educational progress upon return. Minnesota’s communities go above and beyond to help soldiers with reintegration; it is time we ask lenders and educational institutions to share that commitment to our returning heroes.”
The legislation amends the Service Members Civil Relief Act to require colleges and universities to refund service members’ tuition and fees for any unearned credit for the term in which they are activated for duty. It also requires schools to readmit student soldiers after their deactivation. The bill would give military personnel a 13-month grace period after their return home before their student loans come due. Many vets need this grace period to find employment and ease the stress of transitioning back to civilian life. Finally, the legislation would cap student loans for servicemembers at a 6-percent interest rate.
Nor is he forgetting the needs of the many other college students in his district. He cast a significant vote on their behalf today:
Today, Rep. Tim Walz voted for H.R. 2669, the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, which would provide the federal government’s single largest investment in higher education in more than 60 years. The legislation passed the House 273-149.
A former teacher at Mankato West High School, Walz said, “As an educator, I’ve seen some of my most promising students prevented from realizing their potential because their families simply couldn’t afford to send them to college. Today, the House affirmed that what should matter is where these young people are going, not where they come from.”
The legislation would drastically increase federal dollars available for college financial aid, adding about $18 billion over the next five years.
“This bill is a victory for middle-class families and for our country’s economic security,” said Walz. “America’s economic strength and its place in the world depend on the ingenuity and skills of our workforce. College education has never been more important to our young people or to our country, but it has never been more difficult to afford.”
The legislation would help millions of students and families pay for college, but does so at no new cost to U.S. taxpayers. The bill pays for itself by cutting $19 billion in unnecessary federal subsidies for private lenders. The bill would also provide nearly $1 billion in deficit reduction to the federal budget.
About 6 million low- and moderate-income students would benefit from the legislation, which would increase the maximum value of the Pell Grant scholarship by $500 over the next three years. Combined with other increases, either passed or proposed in the House of Representatives, the College Cost Reduction Act will help the maximum Pell Grant reach $5,200 by 2010.
The College Cost Reduction Act also cuts interest rates on federal student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent throughout the next five years, saving the average borrower $4,400 over the life of their loans. About 67,468 Minnesota students use federal student loans to help finance their education each year.
Third District Republican Jim Ramstad joined Minnesota's Democratic Representatives in voting for H.R. 2669, while Representatives Kline and Bachmann voted against it.
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