More than three-quarters of postsecondary institutions (79 percent) would prefer expanding the current Perkins Loan program rather than replacing it with the Direct Perkins Loan program being proposed in Congress, according to a recent survey of NASFAA-member schools. In fact, increasing unsubsidized Stafford Loan limits (80 percent) and lowering the interest rate on unsubsidized Stafford Loans (83 percent) were both preferred over the proposed Perkins changes passed by the House education committee last month. During the first week of August, NASFAA surveyed more than 2,600 schools about potential changes to the Perkins program. Nearly 25 percent of surveyed schools responded. The survey addressed the proposal in House Bill H.R. 3221 to eliminate the Perkins Loan Program and replace it with the Direct Perkins Loan Program. As proposed, the Direct Perkins Loan program would operate in much the same way as unsubsidized Stafford loans. The new loan program would not carry an administrative cost allowance; a small payment would be paid to schools that elect to service outstanding loans made under the old Perkins Loan Program. The new loans would be serviced by the Department of Education, carry no interest subsidy for borrowers, offer an interest rate of 5 percent, and generally lack the loan forgiveness provisions currently available to Perkins Loan borrowers. The bill would dramatically increase funding for the program by allocating $6 billion annually towards the program beginning in the 2010-11 award year, which supporters of the proposal hope will significantly increase its usage over the current Perkins Loan program. Respondents overwhelmingly (80 percent) preferred increasing funding for the current Perkins Loan program rather than creating the new Direct Perkins Loan program. Schools that currently participate in the Perkins Loan program are most opposed to the changes proposed by Congress (only 15 percent favored the new program), while non-Perkins schools tended to be split (45 percent of non-Perkins schools preferred the current program).