Haley Stevens looks to help parents with student loans
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, is introducing legislation Thursday intended to help parents carrying their own student loan debt when it comes to determining how much they may have to contribute toward their children's financial aid for college.
Stevens is introducing what she is calling the Alleviating Intergenerational Debt (or AID) Act.
In a nutshell, beginning with the 2025-26 school year, it would allow parents to include a portion of their own student loan debt in determining how much they may be expected to contribute toward their children's education.
A student's eligibility for federal financial aid is calculated, in part, by parents providing information about their finances. But the new, simplified Student Aid Index — which goes into full effect next year — doesn't take into account the parents' own student loan burdens when determining what a family could be expected to contribute.
More: Student loan forgiveness could be key to better job for those without college degree
Stevens' bill would allow for $4,000 or 15% of the parents' outstanding loan amount, whichever is less, to be subtracted from their income in determining the index level. Only single-parent families with adjusted gross income of under $75,000 and two-parent families with income of under $150,000 would be eligible for the allowance.
The legislation likely faces a difficult path forward with Republicans in control of the U.S. House as its overall effect would be to make more federal aid available to students.
Stevens said she hit upon the idea for the legislation while campaigning in Hazel Park last year. She said she met a couple who were UAW members with outstanding college loans themselves and were facing the prospect of taking on more debt to help their daughter, a recent high school graduate, go to college.
"The average American carries over $35,000 dollars in student debt,” said Stevens. “Many have high school aged children with dreams of going to college themselves. This leaves parents with the difficult choice of taking on even more debt to help secure their children’s futures."
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Haley Stevens looks to help parents with student loans
