Direct Loans Expand; G.O.P. Promises Review
The Education Department has announced that 346 additional postsecondary institutions will participate in the direct-lending program during the 1995-96 academic year, bringing the total number of schools on board to 1,495.
Under the new program, the government makes loans directly to students through their institutions, rather than through private lenders and guarantee agencies.
The law establishing the program requires that direct loans account for 40 percent of new student-loan volume in the 1995-96 academic year--the second year of the program--and increase to at least 60 percent by 1998-99.
“We are determined to take the expense and confusion out of how students finance and pay for higher education,” Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley said late last month.
But Republican leaders issued statements urging caution, and suggested that their new Congressional majority may re-evaluate the program.
“Some schools have been encouraged to believe that the complete replacement of the guaranteed-student-loan program is inevitable,” said Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, R-Kan., who is expected to become the chairwoman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. “That is simply not true. Participation in the direct-lending program is purely voluntary.”
Money Matters: The U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing have produced a curriculum package called “The Money Story.”
Designed for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, the materials released last month cover topics ranging from coin collecting to check writing.
The effort by the two U.S. Treasury Department agencies is part of a long-term campaign to help schoolchildren learn about and appreciate the value of money.
The package includes a 33-minute video outlining the history, production, and uses of money, and a 32-page teacher’s guide.
Beginning next month, it will be available for a $4.50 postage and handling fee from the U.S. Mint, 633 Third St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20220.
More on Time: The National Education Commission on Time and Learning has released two supplementary publications and a video to complement “Prisoners of Time,” the report the panel issued last spring. (See Education Week, 05/11/94.)
The first, “Schools and Programs Making Time Work for Students and Teachers,” lists nearly 40 examples of how schools and districts have experimented with new ways to make better use of available time. The second report, “What We Know and What We Need to Do,” summarizes the key research findings that commission members used to craft their recommendations.
The 12-minute video summarizes the commission’s report and provides practical examples.
Copies of the two publications are available for $6.75 each, and the video for $12.50 each, plus additional shipping charges, from Time and Learning Information Services, 1700 North Moore St., Suite 1250, Arlington, Va.; (703) 243-0496.
