AAMC June 1, 1999, Letter
to Secretary Riley Regarding Additional Unsubsidized Loan
Amounts
June 1, 1999
The Honorable Richard Riley
Secretary of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
Dear Mr. Secretary:
The issuance of Dear Colleague Letter GEN-99-7, which extends
indefinitely the authority to award increased annual loan
amounts under the Unsubsidized Federal Family Education Loan
(FFEL) Program and Unsubsidized William D. Ford Federal Direct
Loan (Direct Loan) Program, continues to link such authority
to schools' past participation in the HEAL Program. The Association
of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) appreciates the Department's
willingness to issue an extension of the availability of the
increased unsubsidized loan. In as much as the HEAL Program
was deauthorized by the Health Professions Education Partnership
Act of 1998, the AAMC believes that it is appropriate for
the Department to reconsider the guidelines for institutional
eligibility to make additional unsubsidized loans available
to all medical students, including those at more than twenty
of our institutions that are currently ineligible.
The AAMC is keenly aware of the implications of extending
such authority and is willing to work with the Department
to draft revised guidelines that would minimize any potential
negative consequences while enhancing the opportunity for
students to limit their borrowing to one or two loan programs.
Revisions to the institutional eligibility provisions would
also redress the inequities among institutions and, ultimately,
among students, that the current provisions have created.
The AAMC would like to renew its offer to work with you and
your staff to explore possible options for redefining the
institutional eligibility provisions for offering additional
unsubsidized loans for "students engaged in specialized
training requiring exceptionally high costs of education .
. ." as per the legislative language in the Omnibus Consolidated
Recissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 [P.L. 104-134].
Please accept my personal thanks for your continued support
of our students and for your willingness to extend the authority
to provide additional unsubsidized loans. The AAMC looks forward
to working with the Department to explore the possibilities.
Please have your staff contact Jonathan Fishburn at (202)
828-0525 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.
cc: Jeff Baker
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