May 17, 2007

Thursday, May 17 , 2007 House Votes in Favor of Student Loan Sunshine Act By Brooke Heath This week, the House of Representatives voted in favor of the Student Loan Sunshine Act (H.R. 890). In a landslide vote of 414-3, the act was passed in an effort to end dishonest alliances between colleges and student lenders. According to Higher Education Washington, Inc.'s NewsLine, only Republican Representatives Jeff Flake of Arizona, Ron Paul of Texas, and Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia opposed the act.  read more Sponsored by GraduateSchoolLoans Edwards Announces New Plan to Eliminate FFEL By Brooke Heath Recently, U.S. Senator John Edwards (D-NC) publicized his new plan that would require all students to borrow directly from the Department of Education. The prospective presidential candidate hopes to eliminate the Federal Family Education Lending (FFEL) Program in order to make college more affordable for more students.  read more NY adopts student loan corruption-reduction legislation The New York Legislature unanimously approved and adopted the Student Lending Accountability, Transparency, and Enforcement (SLATE) Act of 2007. It was introduced on April 16 by legislative leaders Joseph L. Bruno and Sheldon Silver at the insistence of New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. The landmark legislation, which is the first of its kind, codifies Cuomo's "College Loan Code of Conduct," which will be used to settle cases involving lenders and institutions. It also halts the practice of colleges receiving gifts from lenders in exchange for directing potential customers to them. Education Department loan official resigns Theresa Shaw, chief operating officer for the Federal Student Aid Office, is calling it quits as the probe into student-lender misconduct intensifies. Shaw has been at the helm since 2002, heading the department that administers federal student aid programs. For some time, she has been drawing flak for the office's alleged lax oversight of the $85 billion student loan industry. Members of Congress and other critics allege that the federal department's officials in charge of overseeing the student loan industry had ties that resulted in conflicts of interest.  read more To ensure that the Medical School Loans Newswire is delivered to your Inbox, please add registration@medicalschoolloans.com to your address book. © 2007 Medical School Loans. All rights reserved. Office: 175 South Lake Avenue, Suite 200, Pasadena, CA 91101