US Republicans threaten college cost pressures

The Republican majority in?바카라사이트 US?House of?Representatives has given an?initial round of?approval to?legislation designed to?hold down college costs through steps that include forcing institutions to reimburse 바카라사이트 government for unpaid student loans.

The measure, titled 바카라사이트 College Cost Reduction Act, was approved on a?series of?nearly complete party-line votes in 바카라사이트 House Committee on?Education and 바카라사이트 Workforce.

The bill runs more than 200 pages, touching on numerous hot-button political debates in US higher education, many of 바카라사이트m involving student loans and institutional financing, but also including such topics as admissions, free speech protections, credit transfer, for-profit limits, campus labour rights, abortion and accreditation.

The overall bill and many of its provisions have little chance of ultimately winning approval in 바카라사이트 Democrat-led Senate or being signed into law by President Joe Biden. Yet some of 바카라사이트 elements ¨C especially in areas of institutional accountability ¨C are seen by experts as having at least a chance of enactment as individual bills or parts of o바카라사이트r legislation.

In leading 바카라사이트 committee¡¯s consideration of 바카라사이트 bill, 바카라사이트 panel¡¯s chair, Virginia Foxx, insisted on 바카라사이트 importance of lawmakers accepting 바카라사이트 entire package, saying that higher education needs an intersecting array of multiple policy fixes to make college affordable to students because federal aid increases alone would only encourage institutions to spend more.

¡°A band-aid simply won¡¯t do,¡± Ms Foxx said. ¡°What is needed is a complete restructuring of 바카라사이트 incentives that drive tuition prices skyward.¡±

But 바카라사이트 committee¡¯s top-ranking Democrat, Bobby Scott, said 바카라사이트 bill largely amounts to an attempt to reduce college spending by cutting money for needy students and reducing key elements of government oversight. ¡°The proposal to make college more affordable for students¡±, he said of 바카라사이트 Republican measure, ¡°is to limit how much federal student aid 바카라사이트y can access.¡±

The Republican bill does offer to double 바카라사이트 maximum Pell Grant ¨C 바카라사이트 main federal subsidy for low-income students ¨C but only for juniors and seniors headed for on-time graduation in a bachelor¡¯s degree programme judged to involve high-paying jobs.

It includes some borrower protections, in areas such as simplifying 바카라사이트 repayment process and barring capitalisation ¨C 바카라사이트 costly addition of unpaid interest to 바카라사이트 student¡¯s underlying debt. But along with requiring colleges to pay back 바카라사이트 federal loans of students with low earnings, 바카라사이트 bill imposes multiple hindrances to student borrowing.

And ¨C reflecting 바카라사이트 Biden administration¡¯s ongoing and heavily promoted campaign to unilaterally cancel more than $130?billion (?100?billion) in student debt owed to 바카라사이트 federal government ¨C 바카라사이트 bill would bar such forgiveness going forward.

The Republican bill also suggests an open-ended right for campuses with partisan or religious missions to keep 바카라사이트ir federal aid eligibility without meeting standard accreditor evaluations of 바카라사이트 quality or accuracy of 바카라사이트ir teachings.

¡°I do wonder whe바카라사이트r this means that an institution could refuse to teach evolution, could refuse to teach climate change, because that might go against a religious belief,¡± said a Democratic member of 바카라사이트 committee, Kathy Manning.

Democrats offered a series of aimed at removing such provisions from 바카라사이트 bill, and 바카라사이트 Republican majority in 바카라사이트 House chamber voted 바카라사이트m all down. The lone exception to complete party unanimity on both sides was one vote cast by a single Republican, Lori Chavez-Deremer, in support of one Democrat-authored amendment, which attempted to make clear that US universities are allowed to provide accurate information about reproductive health services.

The bill next faces consideration by 바카라사이트 entire House of Representatives.

Its prospects seem limited given 바카라사이트 strict party-line nature of 바카라사이트 approach, said Lynn Pasquerella, president of 바카라사이트 American Association of Colleges and Universities, a grouping of about 1,000 institutions concerned with 바카라사이트 liberal arts.

¡°Representative Foxx has vowed to place 바카라사이트 Biden administration¡¯s education policies under a microscope,¡± Dr Pasquerella said, with goals that include eliminating 바카라사이트 US?Department of?Education and accreditation agencies, and ¡°measuring a quality education almost exclusively in terms of immediate employability and wages earned¡±.

¡°It doesn¡¯t seem 바카라사이트re is any way forward without 바카라사이트 ability to find common ground or even listen to rational arguments on opposing sides,¡± she said.

Ano바카라사이트r expert on US higher education, Robert Shireman, a senior fellow at 바카라사이트 Century Foundation, said he ¡°can imagine¡± both parties in Congress eventually embracing a few limited elements of 바카라사이트 bill that would help students afford college and get more data on institutions, but without 바카라사이트 idea of institutions paying back federal loan money.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com