By Congressman John Yarmuth
With 85 percent of U.S. jobs requiring schooling past high school, the American Dream is more dependent on education than ever before. But, with a struggling economy and college tuition up 31 percent in the last five years, that dream is growing further out of reach for millions of Americans.
When I was elected to Congress two years ago, I sought and received a seat on the House Education and Labor Committee because I believe, quite simply, the best thing we can do for the future of this country is to guarantee every American the chance for a world class education. To that end, I have spent much of my time in Congress fighting to make college more affordable.
First, we enacted the largest increase in college aid in more than 60 years. We raised the maximum pell grant award, cut interest rates in half on subsidized student loans over the next four years, and guaranteed that nobody has to pay more than 15 percent of their income on federal loan repayments. In addition, we created immediate loan forgiveness for public servants, including teachers, military service members, first responders, nurses, public defenders, early childhood educators, and librarians.
But increasing financial aid is only part of the solution. We also need to get cost down. So earlier this year, we reauthorized the Higher Education Act for the first time in a decade. This new version of the law not only provides incentives for states to fund need-based aid and support services for low-income students; it also provides incentives to colleges that use innovative strategies to rein in costs. For example, the law encourages environmentally sustainable approaches to school maintenance and development to lower energy costs.
Moreover, the Higher Education Act reauthorization helps students tackle the most rapidly growing expense of college: textbooks. The law requires publishers to sell “unbundled” versions of all textbooks, which leave out expensive supplementary materials such as DVDs, CDs, or workbooks that many instructors choose not to use. It also requires schools to provide students with detailed information on the textbooks their courses require, so they can more easily plan expenses and comparatively shop for books.
These last two years have been a good start, but we must continue to find innovative ways to reverse escalating college prices and help students pay for school, complete a degree, and have access to the best jobs. We still have a long way to go to ensure that the US workforce has the education necessary to meet the needs of the 21st century market and to ensure that the American Dream is within reach of all who are willing to work for it.
While the challenges are great, I believe our will to meet them is far greater — but we must have leadership in the White House and in the halls of Congress that share our commitment to education. In the past, elected officials could ignore student issues because conventional wisdom said young people wouldn’t show up to vote on Election Day. We have fought hard for student interests, and now is your chance to turn conventional wisdom on its head with a strong showing on November 4.
This year, show the candidates that your concerns must be their concerns or they won’t get the job. I believe this is the year that young people will turn out to vote in record numbers. You have __ days to register before the Oct. 6 deadline, and four weeks later, you can make history by voting on Nov. 4.
To register to vote and find out where your polling station is, visit: www.yarmuthforcongress/registration
