State budget cuts to higher education along with rapidly rising college tuitions have greatly reduced the opportunity for many Americans to earn a degree. Over the past 10 years, the average cost of tuition and fees at state-sponsored four-year colleges has increased 37% while inflation has risen 19%. Over the past 30 years, tuition costs have increased 213%. The average cost for a resident student attending a four-year public university today is about $17,000 a year – and over twice this amount for a private school. The average debt for those with a student loan is now $33,000. Colleges and universities receive much of their revenue from federal student grants and loans. Year after year, it is common for these institutions to enact tuition increases that dwarf the inflation rate. Critics blame universities for skyrocketing tuitions by not controlling costs and wasting money on unnecessary expenses, sports teams, glamorous research programs and excessive administrator compensation.

A Federal Reserve Bank report blames the rapid rise in college tuition on the increase in federal student loans and grants which has made more dollars available to schools. The Fed states that many of these institutions take this opportunity to unnecessarily increase the cost of college, as these increases are not spent on improving school facilities or hiring additional or better professors. The Fed discovered that for every additional dollar made available in student grants and loans, tuition goes up more than sixty cents. President Biden’s Education Department has recently finalized a new regulation that could cut federal funding to for-profit college programs that leave graduates unable to repay loans.

Proposed Legislation: To prohibit federal student aid to institutions of higher education where tuition increases exceed the rate of inflation.
Prospective Sponsor: Rep. Juan Vargas (CA)

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