Senators go to bat for student loan programs

WASHINGTON D.C. — Two Michigan Senators were hard at work today making sure students can continue to pay for their education.

Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow joined a bipartisan group of Senators urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Harry Reid to pass a one-year, no-cost extension of the Perkins Loan Program be passed. The program expired on October 1st and provides low interest loans to help students in financial need pay for their education.

The group said in a letter to McConnell and Reid that, “On October 1st, the authorization of the Perkins Loan Program, the nation’s oldest federal student loan program and a critical lifeline for many low-income students expired…As a result, thousands of current and future students face uncertainty and hundreds of institutions are struggling to find another way to help their neediest students afford their education.”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an extension on September 28th, but the Senate has yet to take action.