Delgado's legislation Included in landmark, committee-passed, Higher Education Bill

Statement

Today, the House Committee on Education and Labor passed H.R. 4674, the College Affordability Act, which includes two legislative priorities championed by Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19). The College Affordability Act is landmark legislation that comes more than 10 years after the last reauthorization of the Higher Education Act--and would lower the costs of college for students and families, improve the quality of higher education through stronger accountability measures, and create more opportunities for students by providing the support and flexibility they need to succeed. Additionally, this bill would increase the lifetime Pell Grant eligibility, make existing student loans easier to pay off, and restore state and federal investments in public colleges and universities. This legislative package, which included Rep. Delgado's bipartisan Strengthening FAFSA Act and Young Farmer Success Act, passed the committee today.

"The financial burdens facing students today are astronomical. Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, but rising tuition costs and the absence of adequate financial assistance is severely reducing our young people's chances at higher education and delaying hardworking Americans from starting businesses, purchasing farms, buying homes, beginning families, and saving for retirement." Delgado continued, "I am pleased to see the College Affordability Act pass the House Committee on Education and Labor, and the inclusion of my bipartisan provisions to increase financial support for students and expand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to include farmers and ranchers. These provisions are critical to ensuring our young people have the tools to enter adulthood without the burden of student debt and the proper resources to seek higher education opportunities. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their work on these provisions and look forward to voting on the College Affordability Act when it comes to the House floor."

The Young Farmer Success Act is a bipartisan effort that would preserve America's agricultural economy and the security of its national food supply by expanding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to include full-time farmers and ranchers. To address the shortage of skilled young and beginning farmers and ranchers, the Young Farmer Success Act would incentivize careers in agriculture by adding farmers and ranchers to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, an existing program that currently includes teachers, nurses, first responders, and other public service professions. Under the current program, eligible public service professionals who make 10 years of income-driven student loan payments can have the balance of their loans forgiven.

Student debt in the U.S. totals more than $1.5 trillion, and in the state of New York the average student-loan debt per borrower grew by 36% from 2007 to 2017. Rep. Delgado's Strengthening FAFSA legislation aims to combat that and give more non-traditional students access to critical financial aid by increasing the number of semesters that a student is eligible to receive Pell Grant funding from 12 semesters to 14 semesters. Many students exhaust their Pell Grant eligibility before they are able to complete their program, often because of non-transferrable credits, the need to care for family members, and in extreme cases, attending fraudulent institutions.

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