Strengthening Career and Technical Education

Floor Speech

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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, February is Career and Technical Education Month. I join the Nation in commending all the educators who play a vital role in preparing America's students for prosperity in the 21st century economy. However, there is often a disconnect between the curriculum taught at schools and the skills required for in-demand jobs.

There are currently 9 million unfilled jobs in the United States, and job creators are struggling to find qualified workers. Career and technical education programs offer a practical solution to bridge this skills gap. These programs offer students hands-on experience and skills that will allow them to excel in the workforce. By equipping students with the competencies they need to be successful on the job, career and technical education programs give participants an invaluable head start.

Building a strong, skilled workforce is a national priority. Now is the time to strengthen career and technical education.

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Committee on Education and the Workforce advanced the College Cost Reduction Act, CCRA, a landmark bill that would lower the cost of postsecondary education and provide much-needed relief for countless students and families.

For too long, colleges have been given free rein to charge exorbitant tuition for degrees without a worthwhile economic benefit. This legislation would ensure that that is no longer the case.

Don't take my word for it. Preston Cooper from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, FREOPP, states: ``The College Cost Reduction Act would hold colleges and universities financially responsible for unpaid Federal student loans while delivering direct aid to institutions with low prices and strong student outcomes.'' Cooper notes the key provisions of the bill would save billions while lowering tuition costs. Those include loan repayment assistance.

The bill pares down the confusing array of Federal student loan repayment plans to two: a standard mortgage-style plan and an income- driven repayment plan.

Student loan risk sharing: Colleges, rather than students, are responsible for the cost of repayment assistance. Schools would be required to compensate the government for a portion of the forgiven unpaid interest associated with their former students.

Performance bonus: Schools may be eligible for new direct payments from the Federal Government known as Promise grants. These payments are determined by a formula that rewards colleges for low-income student enrollment, high graduation rates, low tuition prices, and strong graduate earnings outcomes.

Loan limits: The bill caps aggregate student loan limits at $50,000 for undergraduate students, $100,000 for graduate students, and $150,000 for students in graduate professional programs.

Maximum price guarantee: Colleagues must guarantee that the net tuition that students pay in their first year will not increase in subsequent years, for as long as the student is enrolled at the institution.

College is an investment for families, and they should know that graduates are receiving a financial return.

As such, the centerpiece of this legislation builds off of the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act and measures the return on investment of college programs by comparing the ratio of the total price students were charged relative to the value-added earnings graduates receive from their degree.

Not only does this metric provide a sector-neutral way to assess whether students are better or worse off for enrolling in a given program but provides a measure to which institutions can be held financially responsible or financially rewarded for the outcomes of their students.

This means that, among other actions, institutions can reduce or eliminate the risk-sharing penalties by lowering their price, and in doing so, can become eligible for additional performance-based funding, like PROMISE grants that require that, at a minimum, the total price paid by students is at least equal to the value-added earnings of graduates.

For example, Preston Cooper's analysis of the CCRA highlights several institutions who are promoting economic mobility and would benefit substantially under this legislation--the State Technical College of Missouri, which could receive millions in flexible performance-based PROMISE funding.

In fact, Cooper's analysis finds that almost 90 percent of community colleges would financially benefit under the bill after accounting for risk sharing and PROMISE grants.

Most importantly, the bill benefits students by ensuring that as a condition of receiving PROMISE grants, institutions would provide students an up-front, guaranteed price for their entire degree program.

This means that for up to a maximum of 6 years, colleges would lock in students' tuition, making it far easier to budget needed resources, and also to weigh the cost of postsecondary education against perceived future benefits, such as their value-added earnings.

Policy experts across postsecondary education agree that the CCRA will help lower college costs. Here is what others are saying about it:

Andrew Gillen of the Texas Public Policy Foundation:

``Much is in the College Cost Reduction Act, but the most important changes revolve around transparency, financial aid reforms, deregulation, and accountability. . . .

``Overall, the College Cost Reduction Act would be a dramatic improvement for higher education.''

Michael Brickman of the American Enterprise Institute:

``The College Cost Reduction Act provides the first substantive and comprehensive proposal in years to reform the way colleges and universities are funded and held accountable. There's a lot to like.''

Finally, Beth Akers of the American Enterprise Institute:

``The College Cost Reduction Act represents the largest serious and comprehensive higher education reform package in decades and, in theory, has plenty of bipartisan appeal.''

Everyone can agree that college is too expensive and a temporary Band-Aid like one-time loan bailouts simply won't cut it.

The College Cost Reduction Act is a promise from this Congress to the next generation of students that we are pursuing lasting solutions to the value problem in postsecondary education. It is also a promise to taxpayers that they will no longer be forced to pay for someone else's debt.

You don't have to take our word for it, though. Go listen to and read the mounds of evidence in support of the CCRA. I am proud of the work of the committee to advance this bill, and I look forward to a robust debate upon it reaching the House floor.

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