HU president supports national effort to save student aid

President G. Blair Dowden, Huntington University, a Christian collegeHUNTINGTON, Ind. Huntington University President G. Blair Dowden has joined a national effort to save student financial aid programs from additional budget cuts.

This initiative is backed by the Student Aid Alliance which seeks to support Pell grants and student loan benefits that help students achieve their higher education goals without excessive debt.

According to the Student Aid Alliance, recent budget deals have cut $30 billion from federal student aid programs. Now the "Super Committee" (Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction), tasked with developing a federal debt reduction plan by Nov. 23, is looking at the possibility of additional student aid cuts, according to the Alliance.

The goal of this statement of support is to demonstrate to legislators that students, administrators, faculty and citizens across the nation are in favor of maintaining student aid.

"The state of higher education is in turmoil as Congress seeks to cut the aid that makes it possible for many students to attain a degree," Dowden said. "We need to demonstrate to our legislators the importance of student aid in the educational process."

Dowden was among the first 1,000 signatories of the Alliance's "Save Student Aid Statement of Support." Many students, parents, faculty members and other concerned citizens have joined the campaign. As of this morning, 17,409 individuals had signed the statement at action.studentaidalliance.org.

Student Aid AllianceHuntington University helps students manage college debt through the Loan Repayment Program and the Questa Scholars Program. The Loan Repayment Program (www.huntington.edu/lrap) assists students by reimbursing all or a portion of their loan payments after graduation, depending on their annual salaries. Huntington University's partnership with the Questa Scholars Program (www.huntington.edu/questa) offers qualified students forgiveness of up to 75 percent of their Questa Scholars loan if they graduate from Huntington with a 2.75 GPA and choose to live and work in northeast Indiana for at least five years after graduation.