releases: http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3341
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3341 | Sen. Franken Successfully Helps Revive Critical Loan Program That Helps 10,000 Minnesota Students Afford College | 2015-12-16 | 2015 | 2015-12 | Democrat | House | MN | Al Franken | F000457 | franken.senate.gov | legacy | Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) lauded the Senate passage of a two-year extension to the Perkins Loan program, which helps 10,000 Minnesota college students afford school each year. In October the program expired, cutting off an important lifeline for students who need help paying for college.The Perkins Loan program provides critical support for students who have already reached their limit on other federal loans and still need help paying for things like textbooks and materials. While the bill that passed in the Senate today extends Perkins Loans for two years, it also makes some changes to the program that Sen. Franken hopes to fix when the Education Committee works on reauthorizing our federal financial aid laws."During my time in the Senate, I've held roundtables on college affordability all around Minnesota to hear from students about the challenges that they and their families face in paying for college, and to talk about ways to make the situation better,"said Sen. Franken, a member of the Senate Education Committee. "But unfortunately, college continues to get more and more unaffordable and our students continue to take on more and more debt."In Minnesota, over 10,000 students receive Perkins Loans for an average of $2000 a year. Earlier this year, Congress let that critical support expire, but I'm pleased that we were able to come together today and pass a bipartisan two-year extension of the program. While the extension isn't perfect, it's a compromise that allows the Senate Education Committee to work on renewing our financial aid laws without cutting off students in the meantime."Sen. Franken has long been a champion of making the cost of college more affordable. When the Perkins Loan program expired earlier this year,he immediately fought back.He has also introduced many legislative measures to reduce the cost of college, including two bipartisan college affordability bills that would give students and families better information about the costs of college.You can read about themhereandhere. In addition, Sen. Franken recently reintroduced his measure to help college students manage costs by expanding access tofree online textbooks. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |