Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 (ECASLA) 

In response to the economic crisis and growing concerns regarding the availability of student loans for the 2008-2009 school year, the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of 2008 (ECASLA) was passed to provide banks participating in the FFEL program the capital to continue disbursing student loans.  This legislation also increased the annual loan amounts in the FFEL and Direct Loan programs and provided relief for certain PLUS Loan borrowers whose adverse credit history is related to payment of home mortgages or medical bills.  Finally, the bill made important changes to the Academic Competitiveness Grants (ACG) and the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant) Programs. Check out NACAC's ECASLA brief.

The U.S. Department of Education has provided a summary of the provisions within ECASLA and the actions the Department is taking to fulfill these measures. 

The ECASLA raised the annual loan limits for Unsubsidized Stafford Loans in both the FFEL and Direct Loan programs.  The legislation provides for an additional Unsubsidized Stafford loan amount of $2,000 for a dependent student.  The Unsubsidized Stafford Loan limits for independent students was raised from $4,000 to $6,000 for students in their first two years of undergraduate education and from $5,000 to $7,000 for students in their third year and beyond.  The bill also raised the loan amount for independent students in preparatory coursework from $4,000 to $6,000. 

The ECASLA made changes in PLUS Loan eligibility to include applicants whose credit history has been adversely affected by home mortgage payments or medical bills during the period between January 1, 2007 and December 21, 2009.  The applicant would also not be more than 89 days delinquent on the repayment of any other debt.

Effective January 1, 2009, changes to both the ACG and National SMART Grant programs will include grant eligibility for non-citizen students; awards for students enrolled on a less than full-time but at least half-time basis; awarding and the making of payments of grants to be on the same basis as Pell Grants; eligibility for awards will be based on a students' grade level instead of academic year.