07.17.06 | The Department of Education
A lot of people are confused by what’s behind the Stafford and PLUS programs, so I though I’d give a little background information, hoping to make it all a bit clearer. Let’s start with the Department of Education.
The U.S. Dept. of Education began operating in 1980. It’s one of the last items President Carter signed into Law. It’s official acronym is ED, though you’ll often hear Department of Ed or DOE (this last one rightly refers to the Department of Energy, but you’ll hear it for the Department of Education as well).
Unlike the educational system of most other countries, education in the U.S. is not centralized, meaning that the federal government and Department of Education are not heavily involved in determining curriculum or educational standards. The main focus of the Department of Ed is to formulate federal funding programs involving education and to enforce federal educational laws.
So what does this mean to you? The Deptarment of Ed runs the Stafford and PLUS loan programs, which means either you will be dealing with them or you will be affected by them. While some issues, such as the recent rate hike, are decided by Congress, others are decided by the Deptartment of Ed. They can change their policies or their take on federal language independant of Congress. Sometimes this benefits the borrower, sometimes it doesn’t.
That’s the Department of Ed in a nutshell.
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I became totally permanent disabled in Oct.2002. I had been paying my loan up until three months ago. I had to cease payments because I do not work. I am a single mother of two. Is there anything I can do?
March 21st, 2009 | #
Hello Sandra,
If you are permanently disabled and have a federal loan you are eligible for loan forgiveness. You should contact your lender right away and make them aware of this fact.
March 27th, 2009 | #
I have informed them but they wrote indicating that you would raise my interest.
March 27th, 2009 | #