Cheers to the efforts of U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud to introduce a bill that would allow Maine students to — once again — get help in managing their student loans.
Anyone who has ever applied for a student loan knows how overwhelming the process can be. But, since 2010, Maine students have not had access to local loan portfolio management advice. Federal rules on student loan origination changed, channeling new loans through the Federal Direct Loan Program, instead of the more advice-friendly Federal Family Education Loan Program. The rule change ended the Finance Authority of Maine’s ability to offer loan counseling after more than 20 years of providing the service. That doesn’t make sense.
According to Michaud’s office, Maine ranks second in the highest average amount of debt carried by each graduating student. In real numbers, the average debt now carried by Maine students is $29,983, just one year after counseling was suspended. It would be reasonable to assume the average debt will increase as students enter into loan agreements without the counseling they may have had in the past.
Expecting students to sign for thousands of dollars in loans, without adequate financial advice, is mystifying. Michaud’s bill, the “Student Loan Default Prevention Act,” would allow students to get financial advice, including calculating repayment obligations, from local agencies.
It’s a simple matter of guaranteeing financial literacy in the pursuit of higher education.
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Cheers to the outgoing members of the Auburn School Committee. This week, the committee said good-bye to several long-serving and outgoing members who will be replaced by newly elected members in January. Leaving the committee are David Das, Lane Feldman, Susan Gaylord and Connie Mercier.
Often a thankless task, serving on the school board is true public service and one that is fraught with the scrutiny of teachers, taxpayers, other elected officials, students and parents. In these lean times, budgets have been tight and pleasing all of the people all of the time has been nigh impossible.
People can be passionate about public education. Mistakes and missteps are usually over-criticized in the public eye.
We thank all four committee members for their commitment to our children and our community.
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Jeers and boo-hiss to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for basically dropping the ball and dropping its mission in protecting the state’s environment. While we welcome a more business-friendly approach to the state’s permitting process, we still value the importance of doing it right.
The department failed miserably in protecting one of the most critical components of our environment, our water, when — by failing to act — it ceded the state’s right to manage the water level of Flagstaff Lake back to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In an administration that is supposed to be all about local control and states’ rights, losing the grip on Maine’s right to control lake levels for wildlife and recreation in an important tourism region is a dismal and disappointing failure.
The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.
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