Political Quotes

“I thank the Presiding Officer and thank Senator Durbin for calling us together to discuss this important issue. Our higher education system is broken. Right now a student borrows money to go to college, and the college gets paid in full regardless of whether the college provides a decent education. In fact, Federal loan money is so easy to come by that a new business model of for-profit colleges has sprung up, spending more money on advertising to attract students than actually teaching them anything. Consider three numbers--10, 20, 40. Just over 10 percent of all college students attend a for-profit college. Yet they take in about 20 percent of all Federal student aid and they account for about 40 percent of all student loan defaults. Many for-profit colleges target young vets and single moms for programs that promise the Moon but end up delivering nothing more than heartache. I have met with student veterans at terrific public colleges and universities across Massachusetts, such as UMass Lowell and Bunker Hill Community College. These schools are working hard to reach vets and to help them get a first-rate education through their Office of Veterans Service and other resources. It is an exciting story, but time after time the for-profit colleges got there first, so young vets show up already tens of thousands of dollars in debt and without a single credit that will transfer to a decent public college. This makes me sick.…”