Directors Develop Recommendations in Wake of HEAL Proposal

By Editorial Staff

Los Angeles College of Chiropractic hosted the 6th annual meeting for directors of admissions and financial aid, March 7-9. Representatives from most of the accredited CCE chiropractic colleges in the United States and Canada were present.

Financial aid directors discussed the impact of the Bush administrations' 1992 budget proposal to discontinue the HEAL program through which many chiropractic students receive federal educational loans. The HPSL program slated to replace HEAL excludes chiropractic.

The directors formulated and sent letters to the presidents of the 14 chiropractic colleges in the United States to offer their unanimous support in opposition to the federal loan fiasco.

The directors developed several recommendations for amendments to the current HEAL regulations: allot a one year automatic deferment of loan repayment in addition to the nine month grace period following graduation. Due to inconsistent eligibility requirements and dates for state boards, graduates are not always allowed enough time to take boards, receive licensure, and begin practicing before their loans become due. A one year deferment would solve this problem and result in a decrease in payment delinquency.

A second recommendation was to offer state boards while the student is still in school. The current grace period of nine months would then be sufficient; the graduate would leave school ready to seek employment.