HF 2348

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/23/2017 04:39pm

A resolution
expressing support for the continuation of, and urging the Congress of the United States
to take immediate action to permanently reauthorize the Perkins Loan Program in its
entirety and original form.

WHEREAS, the Perkins Loan Program is the nation's longest running federal student loan
program created in 1958 as the National Defense Student Loan Program and later called the National
Direct Loan Program; and

WHEREAS, Perkins Loans are efficient, need-based, low-interest loans that serve over 11,000
high-need, low-income college students at over 40 colleges and universities in Minnesota and
500,000 students at some 1,500 colleges and universities in the United States each year; and

WHEREAS, Perkins Loans have favorable terms for students; for example, interest is not
charged while students are in school, the interest rate is low and fixed, and borrowers may have all
or part of their Perkins Loans canceled if they undertake certain public service jobs for one to five
years; and

WHEREAS, participating schools share the risk of the Perkins Loan Program because they
provide a one-third match to federal capital contributions, and loans are made using funds repaid
by previous borrowers; and

WHEREAS, Perkins Loans feature the human touch of campus-based servicing, which allows
on-campus administrators to provide Perkins borrowers with one-on-one service; and

WHEREAS, Perkins Loans have made higher education possible for millions of Americans;
and

WHEREAS, the Perkins Loan Program fosters access to postsecondary education for
low-income students during a period of declining grant availability; and

WHEREAS, without Perkins Loans, thousands of Americans will lose the chance at higher
education and a better life; and

WHEREAS, there is no replacement for Perkins Loans; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President
and the Congress of the United States to continue the Perkins Loan Program, in its entirety and
original form, in order to provide educational opportunities to future generations of students who
need low-cost financing to make their dreams of higher education possible.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed
to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, the
President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United
States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions, the chair of the House Committee on Education, and Minnesota's Senators and
Representatives in Congress.