Christopher Shays: “I start with these basic truisms: that higher education is not a luxury, it is a public good; that access to higher…”

“I start with these basic truisms: that higher education is not a luxury, it is a public good; that access to higher education is critical for maintaining our global competitiveness; that many of our economic competitors overseas invest more in higher education institutions than we do; and that research shows that 80 percent of the 1.7 million new jobs expected to be created by the end of the decade will be occupations requiring a higher-education degree. I believe the Federal Government has a significant role in the very earliest part of a child's education, prekindergarten, providing grants to incentivize our local communities to begin to think about educating our very, very young, and that it has a requirement to make sure that young people in our schools don't fall through the cracks or gaping holes. But I am absolutely certain from my heart that the Federal Government needs to play a much more significant role in higher education.”