The oldest federal student aid loan in the country got the ax in Congress Tuesday. A bill introduced by Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., to extend the Federal Perkins Loan was given unanimous support in the house, only to be shot down by Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., in the Senate. The decision effectively ended the program.
About a quarter of University of Wisconsin students rely on Perkins loans to help fund their education. Each year $9 million in those loans are distributed to low-income students. University officials said they are worried about what the end of the program will mean for current Badgers that benefit from it.