Ed believes higher education is a critical component of our ability to remain globally competitive. Ed supports increasing the level of available Pell grants, reducing student loan interest rates, and other initiatives making higher education more affordable and accessible for everyone. For example, Ed cosponsors policy proposals to reduce the student debt burden, including increasing the maximum tax deduction for interest paid on any qualified education loan and to allow borrowers to refinance their federal loans to the lowest available interest rate. He also supports programs that repay student loans in exchange for service to the community, such as the National Health Services Corp.