College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007
COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY AND AFFORDABILITY ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - February 07, 2008)
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Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Chairman, as we know on a bipartisan basis, the cost of college is skyrocketing, and it is putting in jeopardy access to college and achievement of the American Dream for kids across this entire country. The Education and Labor Committee has taken a number of very concrete steps to try to address that. And this Congress passed a major increase in financial aid, $17 billion, over 5 years. Over the last 10 years, student aid has increased from $37 billion to $86 billion. But every time we raise a dollar in financial aid, if it is a dollar increased in tuition that is burned away, the students are continuing to graduate and swim in a sea of debt.
So if we are going to continue on this effort and be successful in making college affordable for average kids wanting to achieve the American Dream, we have to work on both sides of the equation. We have to address the financial aid side, which we are doing our best to do, and do it in the context of enormous budgetary pressures, and we also have to do it on the cost side. And we have to look to our university administrators to work with us to do everything that is possible to constrain the ever-rising cost of college education.
Many kids now are graduating with a debt that is equivalent to what was the mortgage on the first house that I bought, and they don't have the home. They do have the education.
This amendment is very simple. It would require colleges and universities to annually report to the Department of Education on how much of their endowment was spent each year for the purpose of containing college cost, including tuition, fees, textbooks, meals, and room and board. And it would provide Congress really with much-needed information, the same information that goes to the trustees, so it is not in any way a significant burden.
We have to work together if we are going to be successful in containing costs. And we have to acknowledge that we have to work on that cost side as well as on the financial aid side. So this amendment would give us information to work with colleges in trying to achieve that goal to maintain cost affordability for our kids.
Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
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