North Texas Higher Education Authority

As you may know, the House Committee on Education and Labor approved HR 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA). SAFRA calls for all new federal student loans to be funded directly by the federal government beginning July 1, 2010. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is currently working on their version of the bill. If the legislation found in HR 3221 is passed by both houses of Congress and signed by President Obama, it will dramatically change the method by which federal student and parent education loans are made.

Currently under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL Program), students and parents can choose who they want to borrow their federal student loans from and thus make an informed decision based on service, benefits, and/or a prior relationship with the lender. Unfortunately, the potential switch to the government run program (known as the Direct Lending Program) will adversely affect hundreds of thousands of students and parents, which the FFEL Program currently serves and has served for more than 40 years. In addition, the 70% of schools that currently fund loans through the FFEL Program would be forced to change the way they manage their student loan programs and require their students borrow directly from the government with no choice of lender.

In addition, FFEL Program lenders and servicers provide much more than just loans. By offering products and services such as college prep and financial literacy activities, student scholarships, loan repayment benefits, and much more, the FFEL Program has benefited borrowers in many ways which has helped students and parents make their own informed choices among lenders – a choice that may no longer be available to you if the FFEL Program is eliminated.

If you support the FFEL Program and the freedom of choice within student lending, it is time to make your voice heard to keep this legislation from being passed - and with Congress planning to act swiftly to pass this bill, it is imperative to take action now!

The most effective way you can help this cause is to contact your Senators and Representative in Congress directly and let them know why the FFEL Program should not be eliminated. We have listed a few easy ways you can do this:

Send a Pre-Scripted Email to Key Members of Congress - An easy way to show your support of the FFEL Program is to contact key members of Congress. Click here for a pre-scripted message that will be sent directly to key members on Capitol Hill including the House Budget Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions as well as the Secretary of Education. All you have to do is enter your name, email address and click the submit button. If you’d like, you may also add to or change the editable email message before submitting.

Email or Call Your Elected Officials - We also encourage you to send an email through your Senators' or Representatives' website opposing the elimination of the FFEL Program and supporting the continuation of student loan choice. If you need assistance with your message, click here for an editable sample email that we have created. If you elect to call, just tell the person answering the phone that you have concerns about the elimination of the FFEL Program as proposed in HR 3221 and why - click here for a list of suggested talking points.

For a complete list of phone numbers and websites of Texas Senators and Representatives, click here. If you do not know who your Representative is, click here for instructions on how to find this information.

Join A Social Networking Group - Finally, there are various social networking sites such as Facebook and blogs like Twitter that are joining in on the fight. If you’re a member of Facebook you can join the many groups that have been organized to save the FFEL Program including FFELP Fight Back, Keep the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), Save FFELP, and ATLE FFELP.

The combination of our voices, concerns, and support of the FFEL Program can ultimately alert Congress to the perils of destroying a long-standing program that has provided education loans to millions of students and parents, like you, for over four decades.