Ben Cardin: “I also thank Senator Kennedy and Senator Enzi for their extraordinary leadership in bringing forward the Higher…”

“I also thank Senator Kennedy and Senator Enzi for their extraordinary leadership in bringing forward the Higher Education Access Act. I think this is one of the most important bits of legislation that we will be considering during this term of Congress. To me, it speaks to one of the highest priorities of our country, and that is making education--quality education--available to all of our families. Affordability of higher education is a critically important issue affecting families throughout our Nation. In 1965, we made a commitment in the Higher Education Act that every family--every family in this country--should be able to send their children to college and that the financial considerations should not prevent a family from allowing their children to get the benefits of higher education in America. We enacted the Pell grants, which was a huge program at the time, opening opportunities to many families who had never had it before. Over the last 20 years, we have seen a considerable erosion of the affordability of higher education to families in the United States. In the last 20 years, college costs have increased threefold. Yet the buying power of Pell grants has actually declined during the past 20 years. Madam President, 20 years ago, 55 percent of the cost of a public 4-year college could have been financed through Pell grants. Today, it is less than one-third.”