College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005
COLLEGE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - March 29, 2006)
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Chairman, the bill before us purports to strengthen and improve the Nation's higher education system by expanding college access for low- and middle-income students, but in reality, it fails to provide the urgently needed assistance for millions of low- and middle-income families that are trying to figure out how to pay for their children to go to college.
This past December, the House majority voted to cut the student loan program by $12 billion, and these cuts included many significant changes in the Higher Education Act, none of which expand access to college or make college more affordable for students and their families. This bill, put forward by the majority, does nothing to make up for those draconian cuts.
Mr. Chairman, the Democratic substitute will be offered later this afternoon, which will offer real financial assistance to needy families. For example, it will lower the costs of student loan interest rates for middle- and low-income families, specifically by lowering the direct and Federal Family Education Loans by cutting them in half from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent.
That substitute will also repeal what is called the Pell tuition sensitivity by making sure that all students receive the full benefit of the Pell Grant program without regard to whether they are attending a 2-year community college or a private 4-year institution.
That substitute will also boost college participation rates for minority students, establishing graduate Hispanic Serving Institution programs. It also establishes a Predominantly Black Institution program that would boost college opportunities for low-income and first-generation African American college students.
Our substitute will also increase the tribal college minimum grant and stabilization of tribal college construction by ensuring that the title III program currently used for construction is guaranteed.
Mr. Chairman, we all know that a college education significantly increases the future earning power for students today, and the cost of tuition should not stand between a qualified student and a college education. The Democratic alternative will offer families a real solution to the problem of rising tuition costs and make good on our promise to put college education within the reach of American students and families. The underlying bill does not.
I urge my colleagues, therefore, to support the Democratic substitute, and if it is not adopted, to oppose the bill.
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