Representative Jefferson Votes for the College Opportunity and Affordability Act

Press Release

In an extension of the College Cost Reduction Act, Congressman Jefferson voted in support of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act. The bipartisan bill addresses rising college costs, attempts to make text book costs more manageable, provides funding for HBCUs, and supplies money for schools to create disaster readiness plans.

"New Orleans is home to several colleges and universities serving different segments of our community and the nation," said Jefferson. "This bill supports their efforts and makes it easier for them to educate the young people of both New Orleans and outside the city that come for an education. It is also impressive that the bill helps colleges develop emergency systems, establishes disaster relief loan programs to help schools recover and rebuild after disasters and creates a National Center for Campus Safety in the Department of Justice. We know first hand what devastation our educational institutions can face when disasters befall a city."

The College Opportunity and Affordability Act:

-Simplifies the federal student aid application process by creating a two page FAFSA for low-income families and encourages the Department of Education to coordinate with the IRS for information
-Ensures that faculty have full textbook costs when choosing texts for their classes and that students have access to prices beforehand to better plan semester expenses
-Allows students to obtain Pell Grant scholarship aid year round
-Increases funding for graduate student programs at HBCUs, Hispanic serving institutions and other minority serving schools
-Supports TRIO, GEAR UP and other support programs for low-income and first generation students.
-Produces programs to bolster interest in science, technology and critical foreign languages and encourages students to enter public service by authorizing 10,000 dollars in loan forgiveness.

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