RISLA’s Barlow Discusses Big Changes in College Loan Programs and Offers Help

RISLA’s Barlow Discusses Big Changes in College Loan Programs and Offers Help

In recent years, between the Biden and Trump administrations, there has been a near-endless number of changes to America’s college loan programs.

Rhode Island Student Loan Authority’s Executive Director Christine Rose Barlow discussed the changes and how her agency can assist.

“This is really important. RISLA does an amazing job with our mission, making higher education more accessible and affordable for students and families here in Rhode Island. And especially right now, where there's so much uncertainty with federal student lending.  There were two big changes this year, with the one big beautiful bill, and that's related to grad students and with parents who are accessing student loans. And there were some major changes to those programs, setting caps related to the programs and not making the grad plus loan available to new borrowers next year,” said Barlow.

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“So, RISLA has been hard at work since those changes were announced because we're always looking for ways that we can really fulfill our mission and focus on students. And so in this space, I'm really excited to share today that we have launched a few new programs that are available right now for people to access through our website,” she added.

Barlow said, “Now we have streamlined our application online so that borrowers should take it five minutes by the end of the application process to know what their options are that they have here at RISLA, and that's really important when in this time of uncertainty and change. We have also made some changes.”

She said they have improved the process for grad students and nurses.

 

Changes to Parent Loan Program

“We're also doing a number of things with our program to fill the gap left by parent plus loans. You know, in Rhode Island last year, parents borrowed about $26,000 in the federal parent plus loan program per student, and now that's going to be capped at $20,500,” Barlow said.

And, thus, RISLA is working to help fill the gap.

“So, right away, we know that there's going to be some money that parents won't have to pay tuition bills. And so, we have, you know, been very fortunate here at RISLA to have an amazing ship that's been running. And so we're using our resources to help expand the credit profile this year for Rhode Island families and parents,” she added.

Barlow assumed leadership of the agency in January.

 

Changes in Washington 

The U.S. Department of Education announced in April that it is transferring its $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio to the Treasury Department in a phased, multi-year plan. This shift, which began with defaulting loans, aims to overhaul loan servicing and collection, eventually managing all active loans.

While touted as a means to improve efficiency, critics raise concerns about the dismantling of the Education Department. 

For Rhode Islander — RISLA can be a source for answers about the implications of the program changes. LEARN MORE