This letter to the editor by Assistant Secretary Sally Stroup and Associate Deputy Secretary C. Todd Jones appeared in the Washington Post on March 2, 2005.

We agree that the student loan program needs to be reformed so that more low-income students can pay for college [editorial, Feb. 17]. President Bush's budget proposal makes this investment in our nation's students in a fiscally sound manner while maintaining two student loan programs.

Government subsidies to lenders have been reduced in recent years because the program is financially sound, competitive and well managed by the participating lenders. Under the new plan, subsidies would continue to be reduced, with savings passed directly to students.

Specifically, the president's budget retires the $4.3 billion shortfall in Pell Grant funding—which had been an impediment to raising the maximum award in the past—and then raises the Pell award $100 in each of the next five years to a maximum of $4,550.

The president's budget allows educational institutions to choose the student loan program that best meets their students' needs. It also ensures that all low-income students benefit from the investment in the Pell Grant program, rather than only a few at particular institutions that choose to participate in the direct-loan program—a major shortcoming of the Miller-Petri plan cited in the editorial.

Sally Stroup
Assistant Secretary, Postsecondary Education

C. Todd Jones
Associate Deputy Secretary, Budget
Education Department
Washington