President Signs Emergency Student Loan Legislation

President Bush has signed into law emergency legislation to promote the availability of federal student loans and decrease reliance on more expensive private loans. The Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 seeks to ease the student loan credit crunch by permitting the U.S. secretary of education to purchase loans from lenders and by ensuring the availability of lenders of last resort. The measure also increases certain Stafford loan limits, provides a grace period on parent PLUS loans, and eases credit qualifications for PLUS borrowers.