Bush signs student loan bill

The President signed the bill this afternoon. Here are some aspects that might affect you:

Stafford Loans:

Changes apply to loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2008
It raises annual borrowing limit for unsubsidized Stafford loans for dependent undergraduate students (or students whose parents can’t obtain federal parent loans because of poor credit) by $2,000 to $6,000 for 1st year& 2nd year, and to $7,000 for 3rd, 4th and beyond.

It increases the aggregate amount an undergraduate dependent student may borrow under the unsubsidized Stafford loan program to $31,000.
It increases the annual borrowing limit for unsubsidized Stafford loans for independent undergraduate first and second year students (or students whose parents can’t obtain federal parent loans because of poor credit) by $2,000 to $6,000
It increases the maximum annual amount for undergraduate independent students who have completed two years of study also by $2000 to $7000.
It increases the aggregate amount of unsubsidized Stafford loans for an undergraduate independent student to $57,500.
It provides for a period of deferment until 6 months after the child on a PLUS loan drops below half time or graduates.
There are several other provisions I won’t get into here, such as Lender-of-Last-Resort and creating an artificial secondary market for student loans at the taxpayers’ expense.