WASHINGTON – Institutional accountability and effective federal-state partnerships are keys to improving higher education access and equity, particularly when it comes to students experiencing chronic disparities in terms of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, experts said recently at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress.
In keynote remarks, Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, ranking member of the Senate education committee, outlined four major priorities that reflect complex issues a reauthorized Higher Education Act must address: improving college affordability, holding schools accountable, expanding access, and increasing campus safety and protecting civil rights.
“We need to write a law that strengthens federal investments in our students and incentivize states to fund it,” said the former schoolteacher.
Noting that many of the four million borrowers across the nation are struggling to manage their shared of a whopping $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, Murray said the federal government and states should address the steadily rising costs of tuition and other college expenses by partnering to increase need-based aid.
“The cost of living is the cost of college,” she said, a nod to the fact that housing, food, books and other non-tuition expenses often add up to more than tuition.
With Pell grants covering only about one-fourth of average school costs compared to about half a generation ago and state educational subsidies markedly decreased, she pointed out, more students are relying on loans. That has worked most notably against Black students, who are most likely to borrow, borrow higher amounts and default at higher rates, she noted.
Murray also recommended simplifying the FAFSA, which some lawmakers are working on, and making student loan services “work for borrowers, not against them.”
