Higher Education Affordability
As the cost of college tuition surpasses middle class Americans’ ability to pay, too many students are forced to take on high loan debt and work long hours that can interfere with their academic study. John believes every student should have the opportunity to achieve a higher education. He played a key role in the passage of Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), landmark legislation which will make college dramatically more affordable in an effort to produce the largest number of college graduates in 2020. This Act will generate approximately $61 billion in savings over the next ten years that will be used to boost Pell Grant scholarships and create a more reliable and effective financial aid system for families – all at no cost to taxpayers. In fact, $10 billion in savings from these programs will be used to reduce the federal debt.
SAFRA builds on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the single largest investment in higher education since the GI Bill. John was a strong advocate of this legislation which increased individual Pell Grants, cut interest rates on subsidized student loans in half, and expanded federal loan forgiveness programs.
Since Democrats have been in the Majority in the House of Representatives, the maximum Pell Grant award has increased 37%. As a result, over the next 10 years, Massachusetts students will receive over $430 million in Pell Grants.
John led the fight to include a provision in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) that requires states to maintain state funding levels for higher education by prohibiting states from cutting higher education and backfilling those cuts with federal funding.
He also worked to include provisions to help students and their families make better informed choices as they plan for college. These changes require the Department of Education to publish consumer-friendly information on its website about institutions’ tuition net prices and average amount of financial aid awards, changes in per student spending, cost calculators, graduation rates and “Transparency Lists” which document the most expensive and least expensive schools, as well as those with the greatest percentage increase in tuition over the last 3 years. The Tierney Low Tuition Incentive provision also encourages colleges to rein in price increases by rewarding institutions where it matters most – providing increased need-based federal aid to students at those schools with the lowest percentage tuition increases. And John helped lead the effort to streamline the FAFSA student aid application by encouraging a 50% reduction in the number of questions on the FAFSA form over the next five years, and enabling the U.S. Department of Education and the IRS to work together to use information the government already has from applicants’ federal tax forms, such as income and asset information, to make applying for aid easier and less time-consuming.
He also worked to ensure that State Fiscal Stabilization Funding was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for states, including $1 billion for Massachusetts, to retain or hire faculty and staff, maintain or expand enrollment without raising tuition, repair, renovate and modernize campus facilities, and pay for other costs associated with the evolving needs of higher education.
