Report Recommends Steps to Alleviate Student Debt

Colleges and universities should be allowed to set borrowing limits for students lower than the cost of attendance, and underwriting standards should be tightened for Parent PLUS loans, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators recommended in a report released today. The report, the final recommendations of the association's task force on student loan indebtedness, also recommends income-based repayment as the automatic option for all borrowers and a fixed interest rate for new loans, a rate that would vary from year to year with market conditions.