Lisa Murkowski: “we know a college degree and a highly skilled labor force are the keys to increasing earnings and to Americans'…”

“we know a college degree and a highly skilled labor force are the keys to increasing earnings and to Americans' competitiveness around the world. When the Senate HELP Committee began work on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, my main priority at the time was to ensure that more students could access and afford college and job training. Taken as a package, S. 1762--the Higher Education Access Act that we passed early Friday morning--and S. 1642--the Higher Education Amendments Act--that we are debating today--truly accomplish these goals and more. Early Friday morning, the Senate increased the maximum Pell grant award to assist low-income students to go to college or to get job training. Then we added additional funding for the neediest of low-income students. I am also very proud that we authorized and appropriated $226 million for the College Access Partnership Grant Program. This is a partnership between the Federal Government and the States to help more young Americans prepare for, apply to, and succeed in college.”