Senator Kennedy’s most recent visit to Northeastern University in defense of student financial aid was on Monday, March 17, 2008 when he held a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions field hearing on the challenges of college costs in today’s declining economy. The committee heard witness testimony from students, Department of Education officials, and other financial aid experts.

Senator Kennedy argued that federal aid in both grants and loans has not kept up with rising tuition costs, leaving students and their parent to turn to higher interest rate private loans to supplement the cost of a college education. The growing credit shortage of private loans, however, is expected to put a larger burden on the federally-backed student loans. Senator Kennedy encouraged preventative measures in light of the slumping economy and credit market to ensure students continued access to the financial aid they need.

View footage of the field hearing at: http://www.northeastern.edu/neuhome/videos/TedKennedy_NU.mov.zip.