{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s806-115/featured_college-for-all-act-of-2017-1492403852.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s806-115/featured_large_college-for-all-act-of-2017-1492403852.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s806-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-04-03","title_override":"Should the U.S. Eliminate Tuition for Public Colleges and Reform Student Loans?","summary_override":"

This bill would attempt to make higher education more attainable for all Americans by eliminating tuition at four-year public colleges and universities and reforming student loans.

It would authorize the Secretary of Education to establish grant programs to eliminate tuition and required fees at four-year public colleges and universities. The federal government would cover 67 percent of the cost, while states would be responsible for the remaining 33 percent — which comes to about $47 billion every year for the federal government’s share. It is expected to cost about $750 billion over the next ten years.

Federal funding would be provided by a ‘Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street’ — basically taxing a small percent of financial transactions involving stocks, bonds, and derivatives. The taxing scale is laid out by another bill, the Inclusive Prosperity Act.

To qualify for the federal grants this bill provides, states must maintain their spending on higher education, academic instruction, and need-based financial aid. Colleges and universities would be required to reduce their reliance on adjunct faculty — basically professors who don't have permanent or full-time positions (or a tenure track), making them less of an investment for the universities where they teach. States could use the grant funding to increase academic opportunities for students, hire new faculty, and provide professional development for professors.

This bill would also lower student loan interest rates by nearly half from 4.32 percent to 2.32 percent — while also setting an upper limit to prevent student loan interest rates from ever rising above 8.25 percent. Eligible borrowers would be able to refinance their loans based on interest rates available to current students.

Work study programs would be expanded to allow more students and colleges to participate in them. Funding for work study programs would be focused on schools that enroll high-numbers of low-income students.

A pilot program would be created to simplify the financial aid process, with a goal to allow students to only apply once (instead of every year they are in college) for financial aid.

","official_title":"A bill to amend the Higher Education Act to ensure College for All.","short_title":"College for All Act of 2017","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"College for All Act of 2017\n\nThis bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish a grant program to eliminate tuition and required fees: (1) for all students at community colleges and two-year tribal colleges and universities, and (2) for working- and middle-class students at four-year public institutions of higher education (IHEs).\n\nAdditionally, the bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the HEA to:\n\n reauthorize the Federal TRIO Programs, the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (i.e., GEAR UP), and the Federal Work Study Program for FY2018-FY2027; eliminate existing base guarantees of Federal Work Study funds to IHEs and require funds to be allocated based solely on the aggregate need of the institution's students; modify the interest rate formulas for federal student loans to revise applicable rates on new loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2017; and allow student loan borrowers to modify interest rates on outstanding federal stud...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. 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Should the U.S. Eliminate Tuition for Public Colleges and Reform Student Loans?