After months of organizing, lobbying, and just plain waiting, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act — SAFRA — passed yesterday night. It has been sent to President Obama for his signature.
SAFRA will streamline and simplify the federal student loan program by eliminating banks as go-betweens. The reform’s savings over the next ten years are estimated at $61 billion — or, as one activist Twitterer put it last night, “61 + nine zeros.” The bulk of that money will go to increases in Pell Grants and other education initiatives, with some $20 billion going to deficit reduction.
For a taste of the jubilation with which this vote has been greeted in the policy-geek wing of the student activist movement, check out the #cuzSAFRApassed hashtag on Twitter.
studentactivism.net 
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March 29, 2010 at 9:58 am
Neville
Wrong, the “bulk of that money” will go to fund healthcare, the educational appropriations were slashed. Sen. Alexander proposed a 1.5% decrease in student loan interest rates, a move that would have helped all student borrowers save $8.7 billion over the next 10 years, but the Democrats vetoed the amendment. If Democrats were really looking out for students they would have reduced interest rates, they just want our money.
March 29, 2010 at 10:09 am
Angus Johnston
Of the $61 billion in expected savings from SAFRA, $36 billion has been budgeted for Pell Grants, and another $5 billion for educational appropriations.
Is it an ideal bill? No. It’s not the bill I would have liked to have seen. But two-thirds of the revenue it produces will go to students and educational institutions.