Wednesday, January 21, 2004

CONGRESSMAN WU STATEMENT ON COLLEGE ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY REPORT  

 

Washington, DC -- Congressman David Wu released a statement today in response to a report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education that estimates that in 2003, "at least 250,000 prospective students were shut out of higher education due to rising tuition or cutbacks in admissions and course offerings."

 

The report, "Responding to the Crisis in College Opportunity," is available at: http://www.highereducation.org/reports/crisis/

 

Congressman Wu's statement follows:

 

"The report released today makes it clear that we must make college affordability a national priority.

 

"Economic success begins with education, but unfortunately recent tuition increases have put college out of reach for far too many Oregon families.

 

"First and foremost, we must make more federal financial aid available to our students. I call on the President and my colleagues in Congress to increase Pell grants this year from $4,000 to the maximum authorized amount of $5,800.

 

"Second, we must update our financial aid laws to make them more fair.  This year I will be working on the U.S. House Education Committee to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, improving our financial aid laws to make college more accessible and affordable.

 

"I have introduced six proposals in Congress that will help families better afford the cost of a college education.  These proposals include allowing college graduates to refinance their student loans to take advantage of low interest rates, creating community college partnerships to simplify transferring to a four-year institution, and making student loan interest fully tax deductible. 

 

"Finally, we must make sure that college students have access to affordable college textbooks, which now can cost students in excess of $1,000 per semester.  More troubling is the fact that American students often pay much more than overseas students for identical textbooks published in the United States. 

 

"These pricing practices defy commonsense and suggest that textbook publishers may be engaging in price gouging.  That is why I have sponsored legislation to investigate the textbook industry's pricing practices. 
 
"We must work together to make college more affordable and I look forward to the day when we are talking not about the thousands of students unable to afford a college education, but about record enrollment at colleges and universities."

 

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