Skyline students will now be loaning directly from the U.S. Department of Education through direct student loans. This is a result of the federal legislation signed into law on March 30 by President Obama.

According to the Dean of Enrollment and Student Services, Sherri Hancock, the bill had been in the works for some time, and the changes are expected to be seamless.

“As far as students are concerned, the loans are basically the same,” Hancock said. “Everything stays the same except the source is now different. There will no longer be any banks that do student loaning. It will now come from the U.S. Department of Education.”  

She added that the concept behind the change was so the government could take the money saved from subsidizing the banks to increase the federal Pell Grants.
   
Regina Morrison, supervisor of the Skyline Financial Aid Office, also expressed how smooth the transition ought to be, and mentioned that students who transfer will have to deal with direct loans anyways.

“It might be more seamless than dealing with the banks, because we will be dispersing the loans, as opposed to waiting for a guarantor to approve the loan,” Morrison said. “[Students] will have to go over to direct loans when they transfer, anyways.” 

Morrison added that the loans will still be determined by student needs, and the amount of loans will remain the same. However, the interest rates were also supposed to decrease. 

“I don’t think students really need to worry,” Morrison said.