Education Alert: HBCUs May Sue Obama Admin. Over Student Loan Rules

New financial aid policy would have a disproportionate affect on HBCU students

The honeymoon is clearly over for President Barack Obama and African Americans. With leaders aggressively pushing the administration for more policies (and appointment) that help communities of color, this latest news is perhaps no shock. Historically black college and university have not ruled out suing the Obama administration over a new federal financial aid policy that makes it tougher for parents with lackluster credit to borrow money from the federal government for their child’s college expenses. New underwriting standards enacted in October 2011 to PLUS loans did just that. Families of students at HBCUs were twice as likely to use the program, The Associated Press reports. Previous borrowers were not grandfathered in with the old standards. HBCUs typically don’t have hefty endowment funds to offer their own financial aid to replace the federal loans. The combined endowment of all HBCUs is $1.6 billion, less than some individual state universities and far below most Ivy League schools. "We're going to continue to pursue the legislative process to find a better solution," Johnny C. Taylor, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, told the Washington Times, which first reported the possible lawsuit. "[But] if at some point we determine that there is no agreement, then we may have to consider going to the courts." (Huffington Post)

[SUBSCRIBE TO LOOP 21 RSS FEED]