Polis, Peters, Cassidy, Reed Introduce Bill to Improve College Access, Reduce Costs

Press Release

Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02), Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Tom Reed (NY-23) today introduced bicameral legislation to expand dual and concurrent enrollment programs, which improve higher education access by enabling high school students to enroll in college courses for credit. The bill, entitled the Making Education Affordable and Accessible Act, will provide funding for colleges and universities to develop and expand dual enrollment programs at local high schools.

"Dual enrollment has been a successful initiative in Colorado that has prepared students for college, improved university retention rates, and reduced the overall price of a college degree," Polis said. "Summit High School, for instance, has used its proximity to Colorado Mountain College to establish an effective dual enrollment program that provides students with valuable experiences generally not offered in a high school classroom. Our bill will expand on well-tested programs like the SHS-CMC partnership to broaden access to dual enrollment throughout the country. These programs are a win for everyone -- for students who get their first taste of college coursework, for families who can save on tuition, and for our education system, which benefits from lower dropout rates and higher student engagement."

The Making Education Affordable and Accessible Act will expand existing federal grant opportunities to encompass both current and new dual enrollment programs and help train teachers for a broader role in the classroom. These programs also include funding that can be applied in various ways to assist students and faculty with tuition, books, and transportation costs.

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