Fact Sheets & Briefs

College: Soaring Out of Reach for Families

Robert Borosage — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 02:29:16 -0500

The dream of a college education is being priced out of reach for more and more American students and their families. Tuition is rising while wages are flat or sinking. Conservatives in Congress have responded by cutting $12 billion from federal student loan programs and raising loan interest rates for student and their parents. Conservatives in state governments have cut back funding for colleges, passing more costs to families in the form of increased tuitions and fees. See below to find out how your representative voted.

Read state-specific reports to see the impacts in your state »
See how your Representative voted »

Voting Scorecard: U.S. Senate (109th Congress)
Education Funding

Senator Name	State	Party	Stop the $12 Billion Cut to Student Loans (S.1932) ¹	Increase Funding of Pell Grants by $5.4 Billion (S.CON. RES. 83 / S. AMDT.177) ²	Increase Grant Funding by $6 billion (S.CON.RES. 83 / AMDT. 3028) ³	Increase Grant Funding (S.CON. RES.83 / S. AMDT.3048) ⁴	Grade
Sessions, Jeff	Alabama	R	N	N	N	N	F
Shelby, Richard C.	Alabama	R	N	N	N	N	F
Murkowski, Lisa	Alaska	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Stevens, Ted	Alaska	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Kyl, Jon	Arizona	R	N	N	N	N	F
McCain, John	Arizona	R	N	N	N	N	F
Lincoln, Blanche L.	Arkansas	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Pryor, Mark L.	Arkansas	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Boxer, Barbara	California	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Feinstein, Dianne	California	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Allard, Wayne	Colorado	R	N	N	N	N	F
Salazar, Ken	Colorado	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Dodd, Christopher J.	Connecticut	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Lieberman, Joseph I.	Connecticut	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Biden, Joseph R.	Delaware	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Carper, Thomas R.	Delaware	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Martinez, Mel	Florida	R	N	N	N	N	F
Nelson, Bill	Florida	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Chambliss, Saxby	Georgia	R	N	N	N	N	F
Isakson, Johnny	Georgia	R	N	N	N	N	F
Akaka, Daniel	Hawaii	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Inouye, Daniel K.	Hawaii	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Craig, Larry E.	Idaho	R	N	N	N	N	F
Crapo, Mike	Idaho	R	N	N	N	N	F
Durbin, Richard	Illinois	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Obama, Barack	Illinois	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Bayh, Evan	Indiana	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Lugar, Richard G.	Indiana	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Grassley, Chuck	Iowa	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Harkin, Tom	Iowa	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Brownback, Sam	Kansas	R	N	N	N	N	F
Roberts, Pat	Kansas	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Bunning, Jim	Kentucky	R	N	N	N	N	F
McConnell, Mitch	Kentucky	R	N	N	N	N	F
Landrieu, Mary L.	Louisiana	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Vitter, David	Louisiana	R	N	N	N	N	F
Collins, Susan M.	Maine	R	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Snowe, Olympia	Maine	R	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Mikulski, Barbara A.	Maryland	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Sarbanes, Paul S.	Maryland	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Kennedy, Edward M.	Massachusetts	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Kerry, John F.	Massachusetts	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Levin, Carl	Michigan	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Stabenow, Debbie	Michigan	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Coleman, Norm	Minnesota	R	N	Y	Y	Y	A
Dayton, Mark	Minnesota	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Cochran, Thad	Mississippi	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Lott, Trent	Mississippi	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Bond, Christopher S.	Missouri	R	N	N	N	N	F
Talent, James M.	Missouri	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Baucus, Max	Montana	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Burns, Conrad	Montana	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Hagel, Chuck	Nebraska	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Nelson, E. Benjamin	Nebraska	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Ensign, John	Nevada	R	N	N	N	N	F
Reid, Harry	Nevada	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Gregg, Judd	New Hampshire	R	N	N	N	N	F
Sununu, John E.	New Hampshire	R	N	N	N	N	F
Lautenberg, Frank R.	New Jersey	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Menendez, Robert	New Jersey	D	NA	NA	Y	Y	C
Bingaman, Jeff	New Mexico	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Domenici, Pete V.	New Mexico	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Clinton, Hillary R.	New York	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Schumer, Charles E.	New York	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Burr, Richard	North Carolina	R	N	N	N	N	F
Dole, Elizabeth	North Carolina	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Conrad, Kent	North Dakota	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Dorgan, Byron L.	North Dakota	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
DeWine, Mike	Ohio	R	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Voinovich, George V.	Ohio	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Coburn, Tom	Oklahoma	R	N	N	N	N	F
Inhofe, James M.	Oklahoma	R	N	N	N	N	F
Smith, Gordon H.	Oregon	R	Y	N	N	Y	C
Wyden, Ron	Oregon	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Santorum, Rick	Pennsylvania	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Specter, Arlen	Pennsylvania	R	N	Y	N	Y	C
Chafee, Lincoln	Rhode Island	R	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Reed, Jack	Rhode Island	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
DeMint, Jim	South Carolina	R	N	N	N	N	F
Graham, Lindsey	South Carolina	R	N	N	N	N	F
Johnson, Tim	South Dakota	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Thune, John	South Dakota	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Alexander, Lamar	Tennessee	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Frist, William H.	Tennessee	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Cornyn, John	Texas	R	N	N	N	N	F
Hutchison, Kay Bailey	Texas	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Bennett, Robert F.	Utah	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Hatch, Orrin G.	Utah	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Jeffords, James M.	Vermont	I	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Leahy, Patrick J.	Vermont	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Allen, George	Virginia	R	N	N	N	N	F
Warner, John	Virginia	R	N	N	N	Y	F
Cantwell, Maria	Washington	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Murray, Patty	Washington	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Byrd, Robert C.	West Virginia	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Rockefeller, John D.	West Virginia	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Feingold, Russell D.	Wisconsin	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Kohl, Herb	Wisconsin	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	A
Enzi, Michael B.	Wyoming	R	N	N	N	N	F
Thomas, Craig	Wyoming	R	N	N	N	N	F

¹ S.1932 provides a provision that eliminates the "accumulated shortfall" of budget authority for the Federal Pell Grant Program by cutting the budget and lowering the reserve fund for Higher Education.

² S.AMDT.177 is relative to educational funding.

³ S.AMDT.3028 supports college access and job training by restoring program cuts slated for vocational education, TRIO, GEAR UP, Perkins Loans and other student aid programs and increases maximum Pell Grant to $4,500.

⁴ S.AMDT.3048 increases the advance appropriations allowance in order to fund health, education and training, and low-income programs.

Backgrounder: The Student Aid And Fiscal Responsibility Act

Armand Biroonak — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:42:40 -0500

Facts You Should Know

Tuition and fees have increased more than 60 percent (adjusted for inflation) since just 2000.
Average student debt is now over $23,000, a 24 percent increase since 2004.
In the 2008-09 academic year, student borrowing grew about 25 percent over the previous year, to $75.1 billion.
The U.S. now ranks near the bottom among industrialized nations in the percentage of 25-34 year olds with an associate’s degree or higher.
One in five American students pursuing a bachelor’s degree never finish.
In 1977, the maximum Pell Grant covered 77 percent of total public college costs. Now, it has dropped to 32 percent.
Between 1.4 million and 2.4 million bachelor’s degrees would be lost this decade among college-qualified high school graduates as a result of financial barriers.

The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act seeks to provide relief to millions of students, parents and workers struggling to obtain a college degree or training for a better job.

The maximum Pell Grant would increase to $5,500 in 2010 and $6,900 in 2019 as a result of a $40 billion investment in the program. As a result, several hundred thousand more students would qualify for aid and, with that, the opportunities that a degree will afford them.

The Perkins Loan program would be strengthened under SAFRA. These are low-cost loans available to adults, and the legislation would allow students who need additional aid to work with their schools to get these loans from the federal government instead of risky private loans.

Community colleges and worker retraining get new funding under SAFRA. The United States is projected to have a shortfall of 16 million college graduates by 2025. SAFRA will revitalize community colleges by updating facilities and creating free and accessible online curriculum, as well as building partnerships between schools and businesses.

All federal student loans would be awarded through the Direct Loan program as a result of SAFRA. That more efficiently utilizes the government’s education dollars. This reform in studentlending eliminates borrowers’ dependence on market conditions, while also saving $87 billion to invest back in education support and reducing the deficit.

SAFRA would keep interest rates low for lower income students and their families who qualify for subsidized Stafford loans by applying a variable rate beginning in 2012, rather than increasing them from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form would be simplified. By reducing the number of questions on the form, students and families would encounter fewer potential roadblocks to their getting aid.

Finally, historically black and minority-serving institutions would be boosted with a $1.2 billion investment under SAFRA to support college access and completion among disadvantaged students.

Investing In People

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:53:04 -0500

•Every dollar invested into the high quality pre-school programs yields a return of over seven dollars later.

High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40. 2005.

•In mathematics, science, and problem solving, the United States ranked 25th, 20th, and 25th, respectively, out of the 30 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries (OECD).

United States Department of Education. “Table 389: Average Mathematics Literacy, Reading Literacy, Science Literacy, and Problem-Solving Scores of 15-Year-Olds, by Sex and Country: 2003.” National Center for Education Statistics. March 2005.

•High poverty school districts receive, on average, $938 less per-pupil in state and local funding than low poverty districts.

Carmen G. Arroyo. The Funding Gap. The Education Trust. January 2008.

•Public school teachers earn 15 percent lower weekly earnings than comparable professionals in other sectors.

Sylvia A. Allegretto, Sean P. Corcoran, and Lawrence Mishel. The Teaching Penalty: Teacher Pay Losing Ground. Economic Policy Institute. March 2008.

•Raising teacher wages by 10% lowers high school drop out rates by 3-6%.

Susanna Loeb and Marianne E. Page. “Examining the Link Between Teacher Wages and Student Outcomes: The Importance of Alternative Labor Market Opportunities and Non-Pecuniary Variation.” The Review of Economics and Statistics. August 2000. Volume 82. Number 3.

•One third of United States’ schools need extensive repair; 15,000 public schools had air that was unfit to breathe.

United States General Accounting Office. School Facilities: Condition of America’s Schools. February 1995.

•Investing $20 billion in deferred school maintenance would generate 250,000 skilled maintenance jobs.

Mary Filardo. Good Buildings, Better Schools: An Economic Stimulus Opportunity with Long-Term Benefits. Economic Policy Institute. Briefing Paper #216. 29 April 2008.

•Since 2000, the average cost of tuition at a public college has increased 39 percent but median household income has fallen 1 percent.

Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor and Jessica C. Smith. Current Population Reports: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007. United States Census Bureau. August 2008.
United States Department of Education. “Table 313: Average Undergraduate Tuition and Fees and Room and Board Rates Paid by Full-Time-Equivalent Students in Degree-Granting Institutions, by Control of Institution and By State: 2000-01 and 2001-02.” National Center for Education Statistics. November 2002.
United States Department of Education. “Table 321: Average Undergraduate Tuition and Fees and Room and Board Rates Charged for Full-Time Students in Degree-Granting Institutions, by Type and Control of Institution and State or Jurisdiction: 2005-06 and 2006-07.” National Center for Education Statistics. July 2007.

•In 1979, Pell Grants covered 77% of the cost of college; now it is down to 32%. An investment of $51 billion would return the Pell Grant to its 1979 level.

United States Department of Education. “Table320: Average Undergraduate Tuition and Fees and Room and Board Rates Charged for Full-Time Students in Degree-Granting Institutions, by Type and Control of Institution: 1964-65 Through 2006-07.” National Center for Education Statistics. July 2007.
Jacqueline E. King. "2003 Status Report on the Pell Grant Program". American Council on Education and the Center for Policy Analysis. October 2003.
American Council on Education and the Center for Policy Analysis. Fact Sheet on Higher Education. November 2004.

The Benefits of High-Quality Pre-K

Alex Carter — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:23:01 -0400

The Progressive Solution

Robert Borosage — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:44:43 -0500

Education has to become a real national priority. No Child Left Behind was great as a slogan coined by the Children's Defense Fund. It is a disaster as a national education law. College education is exceedingly unaffordable and the cost precludes many potential students from pursuing a college degree. Progressives must unite Americans to meet the challenges facing our education system in the 21st century. We must make progress in several key areas.

More Learning Time: All children should enjoy quality pre-school and kindergarten learning and socialization, and students from 1st through 12th grades should have meaningful afterschool education opportunities. The school year should move from the agricultural calendar of the 19th century to a calendar that maximizes learning.

Quality Teachers and Principals: Skilled educators should teach all students. Every teachers and principal should receive high-quality training before he or she enters school, have on-the-job training opportunities, and be rewarded for excellence. If we hope to retain the best teachers, we need to pay them more and provide them with career opportunities. Our best educators should receive financial incentives to teach in those schools with the most at-risk children.

An Equal Education: Every student should have an opportunity to learn. Adequate health care and nutrition, and an end to the savage inequality in school funding, are all keys to providing an equal education.

A Rigorous Education: Every student should be provided a first-rate education with demanding curriculum standards in core subject areas. Voluntary national standards can help parents hold schools accountable.

Affordable College: Every child must know that he or she can afford a college education. No student should be priced out of the college or advanced technical training they need to succeed in the modern economy. Tuition rates, grant aid, and loan forgiveness must be readjusted to make college affordable.

Progressives should challenge every sector of society and every level of government to make education a top priority. Doubling federal expenditures on education—from three to six percent—should be adopted as a near-term goal, even as states and localities are challenged to invest more. To guarantee the money is used well, we should require that districts are spending money wisely and investing in best practices.

America's future depends on how well we educate our children. To provide every child with a world-class education we need to start sooner, set standards higher and provide opportunities for advanced training and college for all. We need to attract and retain skilled teachers. We need to restructure the school day and the school year. Money alone won't solve the problems facing our schools, but a policy of reforms without resources mocks the scope of our challenge.

Education Facts At A Glance

Robert Borosage — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:41:39 -0500

A quarter of students between 4th and 12th grade read below basic standards, and half of ninth graders in disadvantaged urban schools read two to three grade levels below where they should.
Some 14 million 'latch key children' go to an empty house on any given afternoon. The parents of 15.3 million children say their children would participate if an afterschool program were available.
Public school enrollment will reach new records over the next decade; teacher shortages are growing and close to 50% of new teachers leave the profession during their first five years.3 Over the past decade wages for teachers haven't kept up with other jobs that demand similar education and skills.
Higher education tuition costs are rising far faster than inflation, while real wages have been stagnant. Between 2000 and 2005, the average cost of tuition at a public college has increased 42 percent5 but median household income has fallen 2 percent.
The proportion of undergraduate funding in the form of grant aid declines every year. In 1975-76 a Pell grant covered 84% of tuition at a four-year public school—now it only covers 40%.

The Conservative Failure

Alex Carter — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:40:06 -0500

For conservatives, public schools are a red flag—bloated, bureaucratic, public institutions. Their first priority is to privatize public education, just as they would privatize Social Security. They push private school vouchers—seeking public funds for tuition to private and religious schools. They starve investment in public schools, arguing that too much is being spent already. Although they profess to believe in the market, they reject the need to pay teachers more and instead push for breaking teachers' unions.

The Bush administration is exemplary. The No Child Left Behind Act mandated testing to identify failing schools, but Bush broke his promise to provide resources to remedy the problems. Despite tuition at four-year public colleges rising by 40% since he came into office, Bush broke his promise to raise the level of Pell grants, the primary federal scholarship program, and cut $12 billion from the student loan program.

Republicans Fail College Affordability Challenge

Ian Mishalove — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:50:17 -0500

While students and their parents have been driven to take on high levels of debt to pay for college, Republicans have made doing so more expensive.