The fight to save a federal loan program for the neediest college students failed Wednesday as the Senate blocked legislation to extend the Federal Perkins Loan Program. A bipartisan coalition in Congress had rallied around the program, with the House unanimously voting in favor of a reauthorization bill introduced by Reps. Mike Bishop (R-Mich.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) earlier this week. But all it took was one dissenting voice to effectively end the campaign. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, objected to the extension of Perkins, a program he has long sought to eliminate in favor of consolidating all of the federal loan programs into one unsubsidized loan.

September 30, 2015 ・ From The Washington Post