Washington, D.C. - The House Committee on Education and the Workforce today passed the “College Access and Opportunity Act,” (H.R. 609). The legislation included an amendment by Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) that would provide student loan deferment to our men and women in uniform who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Van Hollen’s legislation would give mandatory deferments of student loans to active duty military personnel who have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The deferments not only suspend student loan payments, but also prevent the accumulation of interest for the duration of the deferment. Van Hollen teamed up with Congressmen Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Tom Osborne (R-NE) to include this bipartisan amendment in the higher education bill.
“We have thousands of brave men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan who, along with their families, are making a tremendous sacrifice,” said Van Hollen. “While we are inspired by their courage and patience, we are reminded of the strain that these long deployments can have on their livelihoods. Providing student loan relief to these service men and women and their families is an important step in helping to minimize the hardship associated with deployment.”
Before the Higher Education reauthorization of 1992 – and throughout the Vietnam War – military personnel deployed during wartime were entitled to receive mandatory deferment on their federal student loans. The Van Hollen amendment would renew this student loan relief for military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.