Congress has reauthorized a popular student loan program that’s used by roughly 150,000 students nationwide, including 16,000 at the University of Wisconsin System.
The bipartisan bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday and the U.S. Senate earlier this week would grant a two-year extension to the Perkins Loan program, which is used by low-income students. Wisconsin’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin was among those who pushed for the move.
“It gives peace of mind to those students that they’re going to be able to finish their degree, that they’re going to be able to keep up with college,” said Baldwin. “Because for many of our low-income students, this is the difference between continuing or not.”
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The Perkins Loan program had been in limbo. It expired in September after some lawmakers called for simplifying the federal government’s wide array of student loan programs.
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