House committee advances GOP bill addressing high college costs

WASHINGTON — With college prices more than tripling over the last 50 years, more and more graduates are struggling to pay back student loan debt.

This week, a key House committee advanced a measure its sponsors say is aimed at making college more affordable.

The Republican-backed College Cost Reduction Act passed in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Wednesday night.

“The College Cost Reduction Act will provide much needed relief for countless students and families who have been continually charged exorbitant tuition for degrees without worthwhile economic benefit,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). “It’s the first bill in many years that implements substantive reforms to postsecondary education in the form of increased transparency, accountability, and most importantly, affordability.”

According to the sponsors, the bill tackles three key areas: increasing price transparency in the college shopping process, holding colleges accountable for graduates who can’t pay back student debt, and basing federal funding for colleges on student outcomes.

“It’s time for change,” said Foxx during Wednesday’s markup of the measure. “As a society, it’s time to face the music. We are scamming young Americans. College prices are skyrocketing, and college value is stagnating.”

But the bill is facing opposition from Democrats who argue it may end up costing students more money because of caps on how much students can borrow in federal loans.

“I appreciate my colleagues acknowledge that the cost of college is too high, and the Congress needs to reform the system of affording higher education, but regrettably the committee Republican proposal seriously misses the mark,” said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA). “The bill will leave half of all students seeking a college degree without the federal assistance that they need.”

The National Education Association also opposes the bill, arguing those borrowing caps will especially hurt disadvantaged students.

“Having any types of caps in that case would help these students resort to private student loans, which obviously exposes them to higher interest rates and other different predatory practices,” said Ronny Lau, a Government Relations Manager for NEA.

The NEA does support an amendment that was proposed by Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) to include the Teacher Debt Relief Act in the bill.

That measure would allow teachers to participate in two available federal student loan relief programs. Currently, the law bans enrollment in both.

“Our goals with Congresswoman Hayes, we want to make sure that educators can access both programs concurrently and simultaneously,” said Lau.

NEA said when it comes to making college more affordable, it’s urging Congress to focus on reinvesting in higher education.

“One of the biggest things we want to see is to increase that investment,” said Lau. “Increasing that investment will help reallocate the attention away from the bank accounts of borrowers and families and also lowering tuition.”

There is also a Democrat-backed proposal in Congress that would make public four-year colleges and universities free for students with families earning up to $125,000 a year and makes community college free for all.

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