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Fellow graduate and professional students,

     NAGPS Lobby Day is Thursday, February 5.  Representatives of NAGPS
will be meeting with members of Congress to urge them to support federal
education programs and tax incentives.  Remember last summer, when some
members of Congress tried to tax tuition waivers for assistantships?
Remember when they tried to eliminate the Direct Lending program?  If they
don't get a clear message from students, you can bet they'll try something
again this year.  This affects you directly, so don't ignore it.

     So how can you help?  You can contact our members of Congress on
Thursday.  The more students who call, the greater the overall impact.
NAGPS has set up an email-to-fax gateway on their Web site at

          http://www.nagps.org/NAGPS/

Click on the Lobby Day link and then the Gateway link, enter your
information and your message, and click on the Submit button.

     Or you can call our members of Congress on Thursday.  Phone numbers
for their Washington and local offices are attached below.  Ask to talk
to the education staff member, or someone else if they are not available.

     What exactly should you talk about?  Thank the Senator or
Representative for supporting graduate education last summer with the tax
bill.  Urge reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.  And suggest that
Congress make higher education more affordable and accessible.  Bring up
one or more of the points in the Top Ten list attached below.  Be polite
and concise.

     We need your help to make Lobby Day a success.  So please take a few
minutes to participate, and encourage your colleagues to participate too.
Thank you.

Tim Benner, President
United Government of Graduate Students
University of Colorado at Boulder

UMC Room 327       Campus Box 207
(303) 492-5068     http://uggs.colorado.edu

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            Top Ten Ways Congress Can Act to Reduce Student Debt

1. Restore permanently the Section 127 income tax exclusion on
employer-provided educational assistance

2. Make technical amendments to the Internal Revenue Code which exempt all
scholarships, fellowships and tuition assistance from income tax

3. Expand the "adjusted gross income" limits on the Student Loan Interest
Deduction created as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, and
eliminate the "marriage penalty" for married couples. 

4. Authorize six years of eligibility for the Pell Grant and allow
students who complete their undergraduate degrees in less than six years
to use their remaining eligibility for an advanced degree program. 

5. Authorize a new Title IX Graduate Fellowship program which includes
"support for women and underrepresented minorities" and "arts, social
sciences and the humanities" as "areas of National Need", and provide
additional funds for this program in the FY 99 Budget.

6. Reauthorize the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) program and the
Perkins Loan program, and provide increased funding for both in FY99
appropriations. Eliminate caps on the amount of Perkins Loans a student
may receive as part of their financial aid package.

7. Increase annual limits in both subsidized loan programs from $8,500 to
$10,500 per year, with a corresponding increase in aggregate subsidized
limits from $65,500 to $79,500.

8. Preserve current aggregate (subsidized + unsubsidized) loan limits at
$138,000, but allow all health professions school students to borrow up to
$189,125 in aggregate limits in the Stafford Loan program, regardless of
whether or not HEAL loans were previously offered at their school.

9. Reduce student loan interest rates in both loan programs from 8% to 7%
as planned under current law.

10. Eliminate or reduce "origination fees" on all student loans, and
extend the interest-free grace period for loan repayment from six months
to one year on subsidized loans.

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                          Contact Information

Senator Wayne Allard                (202) 224-5941  (DC)
                                    (303) 220-7414  (CO)

Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell     (202) 224-5852  (DC)
                                    (303) 866-1900  (CO)

Representative David Skaggs         (202) 225-2161  (DC)
                                    (303) 650-7886  (CO)

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