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  • Washington Highlights

    AAMC Joins Health Professions Organizations on HEA Letter to Senate HELP Committee

    Matthew Shick, Sr. Director, Gov't Relations & Regulatory Affairs

    The AAMC March 13 joined a letter from the health professions education community to senators on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee urging them to support health professions students, and the patients they serve, when the committee acts on legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA) this year.

    The letter, sent by the Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP), highlights how, in recent years, “changes to the federal financial aid system, such as the elimination of the in-school interest subsidy on Federal Stafford loans for graduate students, have made graduate and professional education less affordable.” With this in mind, the letter “urges Congress to fully deliberate higher education policies that support and strengthen health professions education and the future health care workforce.” Specifically, the letter asks policymakers to “reconsider proposed changes made to the PLUS loans for graduate and professional students and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program for new borrowers.”

    The AAMC Feb. 23 also submitted its own letter to the Senate HELP committee which provided input on HEA reauthorization. In addition, the association has joined a number of coalition letters in support of PSLF [see Washington Highlights, March 5].