According to a press release issued by the House Education and Labor Committee, the bill would aid college students by: 1) Increasing the Pell Grant scholarship by $500; 2) Establishing a new college tuition tax credit of $2,500; 3) Creating new work-study opportunities for college students; and 4) Increasing student loan limits on unsubsidized Stafford Loans by $2,000. The bill invests $490 million in work-study opportunities for college students in fields related to their major or in community service, creating jobs for an additional 200,000 students. The bill also provides that private activity bonds (including student loan bonds) issued in 2009 and 2010 would not be subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax.
“A long-term recovery falls not only on the shoulders of today’s workforce but also tomorrow’s,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “This economic crisis is putting enormous pressure on families’ wallets, and making it much, much harder for students to pay for college. We can’t allow this downturn to put an entire generation of students’ dreams of getting a college degree further out of reach.”
The Politico reports that changes could still be made in the course of the Senate floor debate which will stretch into next week. Republicans are pressing for more tax relief aimed at housing, and there is bipartisan interest in revisiting a small business capital gains exclusion that Obama himself supported as a candidate.
The legislation will next move to conference after Senate passage .
Related articles from The Wall Street Journal, CongressDaily, The Politico and Inside Higher Ed areavailable online.
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