Tom Harkin: “for more than 50 years, the Federal Government has provided students with grants and loans to help pay for college. That…”

“for more than 50 years, the Federal Government has provided students with grants and loans to help pay for college. That is a public-private partnership between the government and the students, between our taxpayers and students. It is an investment premised on the idea that a higher education will improve life for the borrower and also will strengthen our society by giving more Americans the knowledge and skills to get better jobs and to be able to give back to their communities. I know firsthand how higher education can transform one's life. I went to college on student loans and to law school on the GI bill. That is why I have spent my career in Congress fighting to ensure that all students who wish to learn, who wish to get a college degree, also have the opportunity to do so. I have worked on the Appropriations Committee to expand funding for Pell grants and student support programs. And now, as the HELP Committee chairman, I have worked to expand Pell grants to make sure our student loan programs are well run. For the past 2 years, Congress has provided significant resources to help students access and finance a college education. In 2008, we increased the amount of Stafford loans that undergraduates can borrow by $2,000 a year. The Recovery Act of 2009 provided another $17 billion to the Pell grant program. The recent reconciliation law added another $36 billion to Pell grants over the next 10 years.”