Fostering Undergraduate Talent By Unlocking Resources for Education Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, HBCUs, Tribal colleges, and other minority-serving institutions--or MSIs--are an essential part of our entire higher education system, and those institutions serve nearly 6 million undergraduate students, a large majority of whom are students of color or Native students.

Funding for those critical institutions should never be up for debate, and now, because of this, it will not be. I am so glad we have reached a bipartisan deal that will permanently fund HBCUs and MSIs.

I know many of our colleagues worked very hard on this, but I especially want to thank Senator Jones for his leadership in pushing to make sure this got done, as well as my partner Senator Alexander, and, of course, Senators Coons, Scott, and Burr.

I am also pleased that this legislation streamlines Federal student aid for more than 20 million students applying for aid and nearly 8 million borrowers.

Our Nation's outdated and overly complicated financial aid system is forcing students and borrowers to jump through too many hoops to access Federal financial aid and verify their tax returns, which they have already filled out, and to get help if they are struggling to pay their student loans.

The FAFSA Act, which has been included in this bill, allows data to be securely shared between the IRS and the Department of Education, making it easier for students to fill out the FAFSA and pay their loans.

This bill will strengthen privacy protections and how students and borrowers navigate their financial aid through a streamlined, more efficient process.

This bill is also thanks to Jeff Appel, an integral member of Federal Student Aid who recently passed away. I am grateful for his contribution, and I know that he will be sorely missed.

There is one more way in which this agreement we have reached is important. This proves once again that we can work across the aisle and get things done when we all stay focused squarely on what is best for students.

We have a lot of work ahead of us to make higher education in our country more affordable and accessible and to hold schools accountable for student outcomes and ensure student safety on campus. I am hopeful that we can build on this bipartisan progress we have seen so far as we continue working together to reauthorize the Higher Education Act in a comprehensive way.

Again, I want to thank all of my colleagues for their work on this, and I look forward to more to come.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source