[VIDEO]: Senator Coons urges colleagues to extend critical loan program to help Delaware students afford college

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) yesterday spoke on the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to reauthorize the Federal Perkins Loan Program. Since Perkins loans were created 57 years ago, the program has awarded nearly $30 billion through 26 million loans across the United States. Over 500,000 students, including nearly 2,000 Delawareans, received Perkins loans during the 2013-2014 school year. The program expired on September 30^th because of Congressional inaction.

Excerpts from Senator Coons’ remarks:

“Our colleagues have failed to hear from thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of our home state constituents who rely on federal Perkins loans. This program is a critical lifeline for students across the country who would be well on their way to a college degree if it weren’t for the skyrocketing, unsustainable costs of higher education.” 

“Congress’ failure to reauthorize the Perkins Loan Program is already having a negative impact on students and households across the country.”

“Let me give you two examples of Delawareans who’ve recently reached out to me. Frank, an incoming University of Delaware student, was counting on the Perkins Loan Program to help cover a gap in affording the cost of his higher education. But now that those funds are no longer available, now that the Perkins loans have expired, his family is struggling to figure out how they will pay for his education.

“There’s also Taylor, a Delawarean, already a college student, who signed up for a promising new course of study because of a Perkins loan that made the additional cost possible. Without this funding moving forward, future students, like Taylor, will have to turn to private loans, sometimes less accessible, sometimes less affordable, to fill that gap. 

“When I’m with working Delawareans, there is no topic raised more frequently amongst those in my age bracket than how they can afford to send their kids to college.”

“In my state of Delaware, nearly 2,000 Delawareans last year received Perkins loans, 2013 to 2014. That’s 2,000 of my constituents who had the chance to go to college, invest in their education, improve their lives for the better – and that’s in just one year of the program.”

Senator Coons’ full remarks:

“I stand today to join in the voices we’ve already heard from Senator Murphy of Connecticut and from Senator Portman from Ohio – bipartisan, a chorus that has stood in support of Senator Baldwin’s request, unanimous consent request blocked by the opposing party that we move forward with reauthorizing the Perkins Loan Program.

“The voice that I think is so often missing from the deliberations here in the Senate is the voice we just heard brought forward by Senator Murphy of Connecticut, the voice of our constituents. The constituents who connect with us when we are home in our states, the constituents that reach out to us by email, by letter. I just wanted to add the voices of my constituents from the state of Delaware. 

“Apparently, Mr. President, our colleagues have failed to hear from thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of our home state constituents who rely on federal Perkins loans. This program is a critical lifeline for students across the country who would be well on their way to a college degree if it weren’t for the skyrocketing, unsustainable costs of higher education. 

“I think Congress’ failure to reauthorize the Perkins Loan Program is already having a negative impact on students and households across the country. We can see the real world impact in our home states if we would but listen to our constituents.

“Let me give you two examples of Delawareans who’ve recently reached out to me. Frank, an incoming University of Delaware student, was counting on the Perkins Loan Program to help cover a gap in affording the cost of his higher education. But now that those funds are no longer available, now that the Perkins loans have expired, his family is struggling to figure out how they will pay for his education. 

“There’s also Taylor, a Delawarean, already a college student, who signed up for a promising new course of study because of a Perkins loan that made the additional cost possible. Without this funding moving forward, future students, like Taylor, will have to turn to private loans, sometimes less accessible, sometimes less affordable, to fill that gap.

“Frank’s and Taylor’s stories are just a few examples of many that I’ve received in my office from constituents or in conversations I’ve had at home in Delaware. When I’m with working Delawareans, there is no topic raised more frequently amongst those in my age bracket than how they can afford to send their kids to college. Just the other night, standing around on the sideline of a soccer game, I heard a whole group talking about how can we possibly afford the skyrocketing expenses of higher education. 

“So the question we’re here today to address isn’t the great big question of how can we make college affordable, it’s just the simple question of how can we extend the Perkins Loan Program. So I’m proud to join with my colleagues in calling for a permanent extension of this program.

“In my state of Delaware, nearly 2,000 Delawareans last year received Perkins loans, 2013 to 2014. That’s 2,000 of my constituents who had the chance to go to college, invest in their education, improve their lives for the better – and that’s in just one year of the program. In the 50 years since Perkins’ was created, the program has awarded nearly $30 billion through 26 million loans across this entire country.

“Those are big, abstract numbers. But for my colleagues who remain undecided on whether to support an extension, I urge them to think about the Franks, the Taylors, their constituents, folks from towns and cities big and small all across this country. They’re not asking for a free education. The average Perkins loan is just $2,000 – it’s not even a rounding error in the scope of the total federal budget that we fight over here week in and week out, but that’s an amount that for one student, one family, can singlehandedly determine whether an aspiring teacher or a business owner or an inventor or someone who wants to go into a professional career, or someone who just wants to advance themselves through education can continue their steady forward progress.

“This extension alone, it is not the Higher Education Act reauthorization that many of us have been calling for. It is not the substantial education investment that many of us know would be a huge boost to our country, its competitiveness, and our constituents’ well-being. It is not a perfect solution to the Delawareans who I speak with every day who wonder how they can afford college.

“But it’s a start. It’s an important start. So Mr. President, colleagues, let’s come together and act. Even the House of Representatives – of all places – has acted on a bipartisan basis to extend the Perkins Loan Programs. We can and should do the same.

“I want to thank my colleagues for their work on this critical issue, and urge this chamber to come together and approve an extension of the Federal Perkins Loan Program without delay.”