what the hea provides
the hea established a variety of financial aid options for students attending post secondary schools in the u s financial assistance programs including pell grants and stafford loans were created as a direct result of this legislation pell grants which do not need to be repaid come from federal funding and are available to undergraduate students the amount offered under the grants is based on financial need the cost of the school and the students standing for full time or part time attendance there is a maximum amount of funding per recipient which is set by the legislation that reauthorizes the grant program 11stafford loans which can be direct subsidized or direct unsubsidized loans are offered to students in need of financial assistance direct subsidized loansfor direct subsidized loans which are available to undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need the amount of the loan is determined by the costs of the school they are attending 12the interest on such loans is paid by the u s department of education as long as the student remains enrolled at least halftime in college the interest is also covered for six months after they leave school 12direct unsubsidized loansdirect unsubsidized loans do not have financial need requirements and are available to graduate students as well as undergraduates 12 the college or university will determine the size of the loan in relation to other financial assistance that was received the borrower is responsible for repaying all of the interest on a direct unsubsidized loan 12technically stafford loans don t exist anymore as the term refers to a subsidized or unsubsidized federal stafford loan that students could apply for in the past if they went to schools that participated in the federal family education loan ffel program no loans have been made under that program since july 1 2010 but the terms stafford loans and direct stafford loans are still used by many schools and individuals to refer to direct subsidized loans and direct unsubsidized loans made under the william d ford federal direct loan program 13president biden announced a new income driven repayment idr plan on june 30 2023 in response to the same day supreme court decision that halted his previous student loan forgiveness plan called save it offers enhanced financial benefits to student loan borrowers three important features will launch during the summer of 2023 while the full regulations take effect on july 1 2024 for more information about save see the department of education s fact sheet 14hea reauthorization attemptsthe hea was reauthorized every five years from its initial passage in 1965 until 2008 frequently with amendments added to it 5 it has failed to gain formal reauthorization since 2013 but its programs have continued to operate on temporary extensions since then the hea technically expired at the end of 2013 although its programs were allowed to continue to operate as congress debated proposed changes to it 15in 2020 the senate was nearing an agreement on a reauthorization and update of the hea when the covid 19 pandemic placed discussions about it and many other matters on hold 15proposed changes that are still on the table include a simplified student aid application process and an increase in the maximum size of pell grants 15