Tucked into last week's U.S. Senate budget deal was $4 billion for student-centered programs that aid "college completion and affordability."
Congressional leaders who struck the deal kept that language vague to avoid another prolonged government shutdown. As result, it's up to House and Senate appropriators to determine the specific uses for that money.
A summary document describing the funding -- it mentions steering the money toward programs "that help police officers, teachers and firefighters" -- hints that one specific intended purpose could be a fix for eligibility issues encountered by borrowers expecting to get Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
But the amount needed to make that fix is unclear, and various higher education groups are offering their own ideas for how the funds should be spent.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/02/16/senate-democrats-want-public-service-loan-forgiveness-fix-budget-agreement