The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) said Thursday that it was forgiving $500 for each of 9,300 freshmen Pell Grant recipients.

"We are dedicated to helping make education affordable for students because we want them to succeed," John Smith, chair of the MOHELA board, said in a statement. "We hope that this loan forgiveness will encourage and support students with limited resources in continuing beyond their freshman year and completing their college education."

The total $4.65 million in loan forgiveness comes a day after the Missouri Senate passed Senate Bill 389, the higher education bill that includes Gov. Matt Blunt's controversial Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative. The bill, which received initial Senate approval April 19, is now up for consideration in the Missouri House.

The initiative would use $350 million from the sale of some of the assets of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) for the construction of buildings on college and university campuses across the state as well as various other economic development projects.

MOHELA is one of the largest nonprofit student-loan secondary markets in the country with about $6.5 billion in assets.

Labels: student loans