Iraq loans

The rule would require colleges to refund tuition for student service members sent overseas, cap student loan interest accumulation on outstanding debt at 6 percent while the student is deployed, and extend the period of time during which a student-soldier may re-enroll before having to start paying back student loans. The bill would not increase the adequate supply of fund veterans could borrow for college, but it would close loopholes in the GI Bill that make finishing a level more difficult.According to the U.S. Department of Education, veterans are less likely to graduate from college than students who have never served in the military. The department's most recent data explains just 3 percent of veterans who entered a four-year college program in 1995 graduated by 2001, compared to a 30 percent overall graduation rate.About 90,000 U.S. military reservists are enrolled in college, and about 25,000 of them have been pulled out of school at least once to serve in either Iraq or Afghanistan.Jeff Hanson, director of borrower education at the student lender Access Group, declined to discuss Campbell's legislation or his loan account. But he argued that procedures already exist for deployed students to avoid having their loans go into default."There's a form students who are deployed to have to complete and send to the lender," he said. "They can even do it after, they're deployed if they find out they need to when they're talking to their buddies. But until the lender receives the necessary paperwork, then there's nothing the lender can do. It's important for them to pay attention."Under federal law, student-soldiers are eligible for a special grace period on their government-subsidized loans. If they fill out the proper paperwork, the clock won't start ticking on their federal loans until six months after; they return from labor. After they complete school, they're entitled to an additional six months grace before having to repay the overdrafts.The rules are less accommodating when it comes to private, unsubsidized loans - which make up a growing share of student debt. The College Board reports private student loans now total $17.3 billion, having increased at an average annual rate of about 27 percent between 2000 and 2006, after adjusting for inflation. When a soldier returns from a deployment, the private lender is only required to grant one month before billing begins. In Campbell's case, it was his private loans that were sent to collection."There are a lot of gray areas with the private loans," he said. "The VETS Act is a finest effort to clarify the international circumstance."Campbell's bill is likely to receive a positive response from university administrators.