April Update: Strong Support for Perkins Loans on Capitol Hill and What You Can Do to Support Perkins Now

April 13, 2017

Last week, COHEAO’s Board of Directors held over 50 meetings on Capitol Hill, and our organization was strongly encouraged by the continued support among federal policymakers for the Perkins Loan Program. Today, COHEAO and Perkins advocates nationwide, together with our champions in Congress, are well positioned to leverage the positive bipartisan momentum and fight for the long-term continuation of the Perkins Loan Program. 

What You Can Do to Support Perkins Now: 

•  Make sure your institution is lending ALL available Perkins Loan funds in the 2017-2018 academic year to ensure you do not have to return EXCESS CASH.

• Packaging “New” students with even a minimal Perkins Loan this year allows them to have access to Perkins Loans next year as a “Current” student – eliminating the requirement to award Unsubsidized Direct Loans first.

• Do not liquidate your Perkins Loan fund.  Students will lose access to low-cost, subsidized loan The Department of ED has not communicated any intent of a mandatory recall, meaning any school that decides to liquidate voluntarily will not be able to recoup its investment of Institutional Capital Contributions (ICC).  Schools that liquidate their portfolios will also lose all hope for any reimbursement of its institutional share of cancelled loan funds.

The effort to preserve Perkins Loans is in full swing!  This month, Representatives Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) will introduce a bill that would extend the Perkins Loan Program for a period of two (2) years until Congress can determine the future of all Title IV programs during consideration of the Higher Education Act. This bill will ensure that students will have continued access to this important student loan program.   However, our current momentum and Congressional support will evaporate if schools are not lending ALL available Perkins funds. Perkins Loan supporters need to be advocates for the Perkins Program with federal policymakers and their colleagues on campus.  The fight is far from over!

If you need assistance with your advocacy efforts, two resources from COHEAO – A Proven Track Record for Students, Institutions, and Taxpayers and Perkins Loans – Past, Present and Future  – should be extremely helpful.  Also, additional information is available on the COHEAO Advocacy page of our website. Please feel free to email Hannah Allen (Hallen@wpllc.net) with any questions and stay tuned for additional updates from COHEAO. 

Please do not hesitate to contact COHEAO with any questions.