The Federal Government's role in trying to help families pay for college is a classic example of the unintended consequences of good intentions.

For decades, tuition and fees have risen higher than the cost of inflation.

I have long said we need bold reforms in postsecondary education, if we are going to make the system work for students again.

Any discussion of college affordability must involve serious questions about institutional accountability.

The high cost of college is not a question for debate. It is a matter of fact.

It is obvious that we have do something, and today's hearing was extremely important and informative.

Students must have options.

That is why this committee must focus on the following touchstones for reform: strengthening innovation and completion, modernizing Federal student aid, and promoting student opportunities.

I am looking forward to some of the other hearings in this series that will help us focus more on why so few students are completing.

We do not want to limit that choice just to those who can write the big tuition checks.

Without the tuition revenue supported by the students, colleges are going to need to figure out a way to adapt.

I think that points out, again, lots of problems at the State level.

I think talking about the Carolina Promise, talking about the programs that you all have, where students can transfer from community college and make sure that their credits transfer into their degree programs, I happen to think North…

I will tell you that I was very, very poor growing up, but I worked my way through college.

I would much prefer if we just choose to support particular professions that those subsides be delivered through something, like a tax credit, that motivates all individuals to enter that profession, rather than just those who have spent…

Dr. Webber, you discussed noncompletion in your testimony, and call it the biggest risk associated with going to college.

The comparative success of the Pell Grant program has made it the cornerstone of Federal student aid.

This hearing cuts to the heart of why postsecondary education reform is necessary, and why it is so difficult to accomplish.