Four Questions

Passover is fast approaching and that means that it's almost time to ask the Four Questions again. As I am the youngest member of the Higher Ed Watch staff (ok, not the youngest in age, but in time served), it would be my job to ask the questions.

But with Education Department officials set to appear before a key House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee today to defend President's Bush's Fiscal Year 2008 budget request for the federal student aid and postsecondary-education programs, we here at Higher Ed Watch thought we would pose an alternative set of four questions appropriate to today's hearing.

So in the spirit of the holiday, here are our four questions:

1. Madame Under Secretary, as you know, President Bush has proposed making significant cuts in subsidies the federal government provides to banks and other lenders that participate in the Federal Family Education Loan program in order to increase the maximum Pell Grant. How do you respond to claims by student loan providers that the Bush Administration's proposed cuts would drive student loan banks out of the loan program, lead to reductions in lender-provided student benefits, and threaten the overall availability of federal loans?

2. The President's Budget proposes to reduce lenders' subsidy payments by one half of one percent - 50 basis points. Why settle on that number? Why not 49 basis points, 51 basis points, or 100 basis points? How can we ensure that the government's subsidy level to student loan providers is high enough to guarantee that Federal Family Education Loans are made available widely, but low enough to keep taxpayer costs to an absolute minimum?

3. Bush Budget documents indicate that the Office of Management and Budget, the Treasury Department, and the Education Department are planning to examine the financing structure of student loan guarantee agencies this year. What motivated the inquiry? And what are the agencies looking for specifically? Are there suspicions that the money is being misspent or wasted?

4. For the first time in several years, the Bush Budget does not slash funding for the GEAR UP and TRIO Programs. Why the change of heart?

We hope these questions will be helpful to lawmakers and others.

Happy Passover.