BILL: Should We Promote Tuition-Free College? - College for All Act of 2023 - H.R.4117

The Bill

H.R.4117 - College for All Act of 2023

Bill Details

• Sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on June 14, 2023
• Co-sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
• Committees: House - Education and the Workforce; Budget; Ways and Means
• House: Not yet voted
• Senate: Not yet voted
• President: Not yet signed

Bill Overview

• First introduced in 2015, the bill amends Lyndon B. Johnson's Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure College for All.
• Guarantees tuition-free community college for all students. Enables students from single households earning up to $125,000 a year, and married households earning up to $250,000 a year to attend college without fear of being forced into debt. 
• Paid for by the Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Senate and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) in the House, which puts a tax of 0.5% on stock trades, a 0.1% fee on bonds, and a 0.005% fee on derivatives.
• Doubles the maximum Pell Grant award from $7,395 to $14,790 for the 2024-2025 school year for students enrolled at public and private non-profit colleges.
• In the first year, the federal government will provide 100% of the national average tuition and fees. Over a five-year period, the federal share will decrease as the State share increases to no more than 20%.
• Triples Federal TRIO funding to serve students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, and first-generation college students in their pursuit of a higher education.

What's in the Bill

Makes dream of college accessible

• Impacts up to 80% of American families.
• Enables students to use need-based aid, like Pell Grants, to cover non-tuition-related expenses such as living expenses, childcare, and transportation because they would not be forced to use this aid for tuition. Makes Pell Grants a mandatory option.

Addresses student debt crisis

• Enables students to pursue an education without being strapped by debt. In turn, this allows them to contribute to the economy, consider home ownership and entrepreneurialism, and enter the middle class.
• Over 45 million Americans hold over $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. In the last 30 years, the cost of tuition at public four-year colleges increased 258%. The average student graduates owing $28,950.

Works for all students

• Ensures that the vast majority of students who enroll at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions can attend tuition- and debt-free.
• Expands Pell Grant eligibility to Dreamer students, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protected Status, and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) students. 

What Supporters Are Saying

• Sen. Sanders said:

"Today, this country tells young people to get the best education they can, and then saddles them for decades with crushing student loan debt. To my mind, that does not make any sense whatsoever. In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, a higher education should be a right for all, not a privilege for the few. It is absolutely unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of bright young Americans do not get a higher education each year, not because they are unqualified, but because their family does not have enough money."

• Rep. Jayapal said:

"While President Biden can and should immediately cancel student debt for millions of borrowers, Congress must ensure that working families never have to take out these crushing loans to receive a higher education in the first place."

• Braxton Brewington from the Debt Collective said:

"Education is a public good, but the only way working people can afford skyrocketing tuition is by going into a mountain of debt and mortgaging their future."

• Endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, Public Citizen, Community Change Action, the Center for Popular Democracy, and the Children's Defense Fund. 

What Opponents Are Saying

• Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey and Republican presidential candidate hopeful, said:

"That is a typical liberal approach. It is wrong, and we know it. There are always costs involved, and if college graduates are going to reap the greater economic rewards and opportunities of earning a degree, then it seems fair for them to support the cost of the education they're receiving. Earning a degree should actually involve earning it."

Tell your reps to support or oppose this bill

-Emma Kansiz

(Photo Credit: Canva)