Higher Education

College Access

Each additional year of post-secondary education increases a person’s income by 5 to 15%. Over a lifetime, a person with a college degree will earn close to $1 million more than those who only have a high school diploma. Unfortunately, the rising cost of college is making it tougher for all students who want to go to college to attend.

Students now amass an average of $15,500 of debt attending public colleges and universities, and almost $20,000 of debt attending private schools - twice what they borrowed ten years ago. The value of the Pell Grant, which provides vital resources to help our lowest income students offset the cost of college, has declined from nearly 60% of the cost of a public school to only 36% today.

For all of these reasons, I opposed President Bush’s proposal to eliminate the loan consolidation program, and I am a proud co-sponsor of S. 371, the College Quality, Affordability and Diversity Act, which would:

• Double the maximum Hope Scholarship Tax Credit to $3,000, and make it available for four years of college instead of the current two years.
• Enable the over five million borrowers with consolidated loans to refinance their loans, just as they would refinance their home mortgage to take advantage of lower interest rates and eliminate origination fees on subsidized loans.
• Provide a new incentive to colleges to join the Direct Loan Program, which saves the government and taxpayers 14 cents on every dollar loaned.
• Increase funding for successful programs such as TRIO and GEAR UP, which improve access to college for minorities and first generation students.
• Strengthen efforts to recruit, train, and retain qualified teachers, paraprofessionals, principals, and superintendents for schools.

Student Borrower Bill of Rights

Last Congress, I introduce legislation to ensure that the process of repaying student loans is not unduly burdensome for our college students. The Student Borrower Bill of Rights will provide student borrowers with five basic rights and protect them when trying to repay their loans.

Unlike other debt, young people take out student loans to invest in themselves. Because these loans help to pay for college, student loans can help people earn more money and offer students greater choices in their careers. Student borrowers must take the responsibility of repaying their debt seriously so that future generations of students can also benefit from the chance to invest in themselves.

Yet, too many borrowers in New York, and around the country, are overly burdened or treated unfairly as they repay their student loans. The burden of student loan debt alone can put people in economic handcuffs and force them out of important, but low-paying professions, such as social workers, teachers and police officers. The oppression of loan repayment may even force students to delay their goals of purchasing a home.

This bill will make it easier for students to repay loans and give them a basic set of enforceable rights. This bill would give student borrowers the right to fair monthly payments that do not exceed a percentage of their incomes, as well as access to fair interest rates and fees. The bill would also give students the right to shop in a free marketplace for their lender and to borrow without exploitation. Finally, the bill will give students access to better information about their loans to provide students with better options during repayment.

It is in our nation’s economic interest to make repayment of student loans easier and provide student borrowers with rights that are effective. I am happy to report that two of the provisions from the Student Borrower Bill of Rights of the 109 th Congress were enacted into law through the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense 2006. These provisions, a repeal of the single holder rule and consolidation between loan programs, will enable borrowers to choose any lender with income-sensitive repayment terms that are acceptable to the borrower when consolidating student loans.

The rights found in my bill are long overdue. I w ill continue to work to include many more provisions from the Student Borrower Bill of Rights into law as the Higher Education Act moves through Congress

Non-Traditional Students

I am also committed to increasing opportunities for non-traditional students to enter and succeed in college. In New York, the number of students who are 25 and older, who are attending school while raising their families and who are working full-time has grown dramatically over the past decade. I am working to make it easier for adults to balance school and family so that they can improve their skills and increase their earnings. I recently re-introduced the Non-Traditional Student Success Act, a comprehensive bill to help non-traditional students enter and succeed in college. This bill:

• Increases the maximum Pell Grant to $11,600 by the 2010-2011 school year and makes Pell Grants available for students taking summer courses.
• Creates a pilot program to allow students attending college less than half-time to receive federal student aid.
• Increases the income protection allowance to allow working students to keep more of their income without losing crucial student aid.
• Expands the Lifetime Learning Credit from 20 to 50% and allows students to receive the money in advance – when they need it to pay tuition.

I am happy to report that two of the provisions from the previously introduced Nontraditional Student Success Act were enacted into law through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. These provisions, expanding the use of Pell grants for less than half-time students and a provision to reduce the work penalty for independent students, will provide more options to nontraditional students in financing their college education.

I will continue to work to include many more provisions from the Nontraditional Student Success Act into law as the Higher Education Act moves through Congress.

Career & Technical Education

I strongly support vocational and technical education and have opposed the Bush Administration’s plan to dismantle the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical program. In New York, over 475,000 students at high schools and community colleges receive vocational and technical education. This training gives New York’s students a competitive edge, allowing them to enter emerging fields and receive above-average compensation for their work. Technical employment is the fastest-growing segment of the labor market, and employment growth in occupations requiring a vocational associate’s degree is projected to be higher (30 percent) than overall employment growth (14 percent) through 2008.

I was proud to co-sponsor S. 250, which improved upon the Carl D. Perkins program and rejected the Bush Administration’s effort to dismantle the program. This bill passed the Senate on March 10, 2005.

Title IX

I recognize that Title IX has provided millions of girls and women all over America with opportunities to learn new skills, practice teamwork, and gain confidence. Girls who participate in sports are less likely to smoke, drink, drop out of school, be overweight and become teenage mothers, and they are more likely to grow up with confidence, graduate from college, and even become a CEO. Since 1972, when Title IX became law, women’s participation in sports has increased by more than 400% at the college level and more than 800% at the high school level. I have been a long-standing advocate of Title IX and will continue to fight to ensure that it keeps the door open for girls and women to have equal opportunities in academics and athletics.

Affirmative Action

I applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold diversity as a goal of college admissions. Diversity enriches education by exposing students to a wide range of experiences and perspectives while also opening the doors of opportunity to minorities, women, and individuals’ from less privileged backgrounds. I do not believe that ‘race neutral’ admissions processes can succeed in meeting the important goal of diversity. That is why I joined with Senators Daschle, Kennedy, and others in submitting a friend of the court brief in support of the University of Michigan in its court battle in June 2003.