Political Quotes

“today's New York Times states that middle-class families are being edged out of the prestigious universities by rising costs of college education. Access to college for middle-class families has worsened over the last few years, another example of the middle-class squeeze in America. The greatest disservice that we have done to middle-class families in America is to convince them of the necessity of college education for their children and then priced it out of reach for their children. College tuition at public universities has increased by 14 percent last year and in certain States by 20 or 30 percent. In my home State of Illinois today, when a college graduate gets a diploma, on the backside is their first Visa bill. Every kid graduates with an average of $15,000 of debt. College tuition is running three times the rate of inflation; but Congress has not made the investment in higher education, and costs have soared. While college costs have skyrocketed, Pell grants have been frozen for 3 years. And in the year in which we are to reauthorize the Higher Education Act which deals with Pell grants and Perkins loans, what has Congress done?”