Financial aid recipients at Harvard will have an easier--but not necessarily safer--time applying for loans next year.
A Department of Education (DOE) rule change announced last week means that students will now have to sign only one promissory note per year to get loans.
"This is great news because our students here have so many outside awards coming in," said Jannette Parks, Harvard coordinator for federal and state aid.
The change will allow universities to coordinate loan changes without requiring more promissory notes.
"In most cases if you increase or decrease the loan, you still only have to sign for one loan," Parks said.
But the new system worries some consumer groups who say schools could now easily saddle additional loans on students without their permission.
The DOE is making the change largely to reduce paperwork, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported last Friday.
Parks also said that, although promissory notes are good for one year now, the government plans to expand the notes' significance.
"They are moving towards a Master Promissory Note that will be multiple-year," Parks said.
Some students said they appreciated not having to make multiple trips to sign their loans, though others were less enthused about the change.
"Going to the office two times a year is not such a big deal," said Gabor D. Gyori '99.
The DOE will now also require an investigation of all students reporting former drug convictions on the Federal Application for Student Aid before they are eligible for aid.
In addition, students who leave school during the semester will now be required to repay their Pell grants.
Read more in News
Council to Rent Buses to Groups for The GameRecommended Articles
-
Watching Money Fly Away...At a commencement speech on May 19 at Brandeis University, Madeleine K. Albright, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., told
-
Feds Will Maintain Financial Aid FundsFederal funding for higher education will largely be spared from the Congressional budget-cutting axe in the latest incarnation of the
-
Students May Be Forced to Quit JobsHundreds of University-employed students receiving National Direct Student Loans (NDSL) may be forced to quit their jobs within a few
-
Despite Aid Increase, Average Senior Graduates $14,487 in DebtTomorrow, Harvard begins cashing in its 10,000 men. In greenback form, George Washington, Andrew Jackson and Benjamin Franklin will make
-
Student Loan Defaults at Record LowPresident Clinton announced Monday that students are paying back their student loans at an unprecedented rate, saving taxpayers billions. The
-
Monro Praises Flexibility, Scope Of New Student Loan ProgramThe new National Defense Student Loan Program provides American colleges and universities with a "remarkable opportunity" to increase their financial