Virginia senators want Perkins loan program extended
Virginia's two U.S. senators are among the lawmakers spearheading a bipartisan effort to extend the life of a popular federal college student loan program for modest and low-income students.
The Carl D. Perkins Loan Program has been around for decades, with more than 26 million students getting the $28 billion loans since 1958. They are offered at a 5 percent interest rate, with no origination fees and a nine-month grace period after graduation.
In the most recent academic year, for example, more than 500,000 students at some 1,500 colleges and universities got $1.1 billion in Perkins loans. The average award was about $2,000 per student.
"These reasonable, relatively low-dollar loans make college a reality for the lowest-income students who would otherwise turn to higher interest private loans or conclude that a college education is out of their reach," said a news release last week from Sens. Tim Kaineand Mark R. Warner.
Though Perkins Loans have enjoyed broad bipartisan support over the years, the program's authorization ran out Sept. 30 as lawmakers revamp the Higher Education Act. That process, which could dramatically change the loans available to students, will take several months or more to hash out.
In the meantime, Kaine, Warner and a bipartisan coalition of 50 other senators are urging Senate leaders to take up legislation to extend the Perkins loans. Though the House of Representatives has already passed such an extension, the Senate has not.
"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," said the Oct. 29 letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada from 52 senators.
More than 7,800 students in Virginia got Perkins loans in the 2013-2014 school year, Kaine's office said. That included 266 at Hampton University; 232 at The College of William and Mary; 230 at Norfolk State University; and 93 at Old Dominion University. Christopher Newport University and Thomas Nelson Community College didn't have any students with Perkins loans. The University of Virginia topped the list, with 1,255 students getting the loans.
But because the program wasn't reauthorized before Oct. 1, the senators said, students have lost their Perkins loan eligibility if they change schools. Future students aren't eligible, and students getting the loans this semester can't depend on one next semester.
The 52 senators said they support the larger revamping effort to "make our various federal student aid programs work better for students, parents and institutions."
But "in the meantime," they wrote, "we should immediately take up and pass the House-passed extension to provide certainty to students and ensure that this important source of student financial assistance is not interrupted."
Hampton school board meeting Wednesday
The Hampton School Board will hold a regularly scheduled meeting Nov. 4 at Jones Magnet Middle School.
On the agenda is an update on what the division's Out of School Time program, which is designed to extend learning and activities for students beyond the normal school hours, did last year and plans to do in 2015-16.
Cynthia Cooper, executive director of research, planning and evaluation for Hampton City Schools, will present the latest accreditation and Standards of Learning results, as well as information about which schools need the most intervention. ...
