College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005

COLLEGE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2005 -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 04, 2006)

The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 609) to amend and extend the Higher Education Act of 1965:

* Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, as a former teacher, mother, and grandmother, I rise in opposition to H.R. 609, the so-called College Access and Opportunity Act. H.R. 609 represents a major missed opportunity to make college more affordable and accessible, to boost America's economic competitiveness, and to invest in America's future.

* The Republican majority is bringing this bill to the floor just 2 months after they passed the Budget Reconciliation Act, which slashed federal student aid programs by $12 billion. H.R. 609 does nothing to reverse this raid on student aid, nor does it do anything to make college loans more affordable. In fact, this bill freezes the authorized level of the maximum Pell grant scholarship. If this bill is passed, Pell grants would be frozen at just $200 above the current level until 2013. This would mean less money to help students go to school.

* With millions of American families struggling to pay for college, it is critical that Congress act to make college more affordable. I would like to share with my colleagues part of a letter that a constituent from Des Plaines, Illinois, recently wrote to me:

My son who is out of college for 2 years, makes about $30,000. His major was public relations, but could not get a job in that field since he had no experience. So he finally got a job in sales. Since he went to school in Iowa, we consolidated his loans with an Iowa firm. His loans were over $100,000. His monthly payment was about $500 [in addition] he has the federal loans [amounting to] over $100. As of Feb. 6th he will pay over $700 a month for his private loan plus his federal loans which will bring him over $850 a month. This is for the next 20 years ..... I would like for someone to tell me how does the government expect kids to be able to make a life for themselves when the interest rates keep going up on school loans? Why can't students have a lower fixed rate?

I also understand that when kids get out of college you are figuring that you will be making enough money to pay their loans. But what about the kids that aren't engineers, doctors, or lawyers? What about those average kids who go to college because they know in order to get a job these days you need that degree but do not make large salaries and barely make enough money to live. My kids are used to hard work, for example, working two jobs. I guess I figured that once you have that degree, it would be a little easier to get a job. Obviously, that is not the case.

http://thomas.loc.gov/