Help is coming for college affordability, Loebsack tells students

Despite the ongoing struggle over health care reform, federal lawmakers are committed to passing student aid legislation this year that makes college more accessible, U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack said.

Loebsack, D-Iowa, met Monday with undergraduate and graduate student leaders at the University of Iowa to talk about student aid and helping to ease the debt burden on graduates. He met later in the day with students at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.

A number of steps have been taken to make college more affordable, Loebsack said, including upping the maximum Pell Grant amount and keeping interest rates low.

“Clearly at the federal level, we have a concern about the rising cost of college,” he told a group of about 15 student leaders at the UI.

While federal lawmakers have no control over tuition increases in each state, Loebsack said it's an issue about which he obviously has concerns. While tuition at the UI, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa is low compared to peers, the average debt load of graduates in the state is among the highest nationally.

“No one wants Iowa students to continue to have that high of debt load,” Loebsack said.

The UI's average debt load, the lowest of the three regent universities, is expected to decline this year, Student Financial Aid Director Mark Warner said.

Average indebtedness for 2008 graduates with debt was $22,856 at the UI, $30,732 at ISU and $24,176 at UNI.

The student aid bill that passed in the House of Representatives last week increases the maximum Pell Grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019. It also simplifies student aid application forms and expands the Perkins Loan Program. Loebsack said he is confident a similar bill will pass in the Senate this fall.

UI junior John Rigby, 20, of Marion, is among the student leaders who would like to see the state Board of Regents set a fixed tuition rate so students know what to expect.

“It's hugely critical,” Rigby said. “I do get financial aid and I feel like when I graduate, I'll be in over my head.”