Washington — In an effort to improve the borrowing rate on dental student loans, the Association has joined forces with the American Student Dental Association and endorsed H.R. 4223, the Protecting Our Students by Terminating Graduate Rates that Add to Debt Act, according to ADA News.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., has 21 congressional co-sponsors and would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the government to make Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans available to graduate and professional students with a financial need.
In an April 11 letter to House Committee on Education and Workforce members John Kline, chair, R-Minn., and Robert C. Scott, ranking member, D-Va., ADA President Carol Gomez Summerhays and Executive Director Kathleen T. O’Loughlin, and ASDA President Sohaib Soliman and Executive Director Nancy R. Honeycutt, urged the committee to support the bill. The legislation would allow students to take advantage of the same favorable borrowing terms and conditions of federal Direct Subsidized Loans that are offered to undergraduate students. According to the American Dental Education Association, in 2014 the average educational debt for senior dental student was $220,892.
To read the full story, click here.
I hope it goes through, it is outrages how costly it is now for our young adults to get a start. And it is not just the dental industry!