WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks during today’s hearing to discuss issues in higher education, and how to ensure students' educational success.
Click here to watch the hearing live.
Cassidy’s speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will please come to order.
The American higher education system has lost its purpose. College students are not learning skills to succeed in the modern workforce. Studies show that the costs of college are quickly outpacing the value of students’ education.
In the last 30 years, tuition and fees at private non-profit colleges rose by 80 percent. At public four-year institutions, they’ve increased by 109 percent. Meanwhile, according to a nonpartisan analysis, 23 percent of bachelor’s degree programs and 43 percent of master’s degrees have a negative return on investment. This to say students pay more for their degrees than the increase in salaries they can expect.
This increased cost is not going to improve education. Instead, those dollars are being funneled to promote a DEI ideology, dividing students based on race and ethnicity. A report studying 65 colleges and universities found that the average institution was paying for 45 staff members to promote DEI policies. By the way, these programs are subsidized by taxpayers who contribute significant funding annually for universities.
Instead of promoting academic excellence, many campuses have been ideologically captured; becoming hotbeds of hate and division. Students leave college woefully unprepared for the workforce while being saddled with insurmountable debt that they can’t pay back.
Comprehensive reform of higher education is needed. President Trump and Secretary McMahon are making progress, including fixing our broken student loan program. But, congressional action is needed to create lasting change.
Over the last several years, there have been multiple legislative efforts to improve higher ed to benefit students. This includes my bipartisan College Transparency Act, which allows students to compare the differences between prospective colleges and a major there to see if the value of the degree is worth the cost. I am leading this bill with Senator Warren.
Senator Tuberville is leading the Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans (GOAL) Act to end Graduate PLUS loans, which have been inflationary to tuition costs. This bill puts downward pressure on rising college costs by limiting graduate school borrowing. There is also the Streamlining Accountability and Value in Education (SAVE) for Students Act, led by Senator Cornyn, which streamlines confusing repayment options for student loan borrowers from nine options to two; giving students and families clarity as to which repayment plan best fits their needs.
I look forward to discussing these and other policies in-depth today.
It is a given, but nonetheless, I will emphasize the power of education. It can transform lives, lifting not just the generation that attends out of poverty, but subsequent generations as well. It is a font of life-changing innovation and research, developing lifesaving cures and finding solutions to some of America’s biggest challenges.
But when universities fail in their basic responsibility to ensure a safe learning environment; when students leave college in debt and without hope for a brighter future, the American people lose trust in higher ed.
There is no one who can advocate for higher education better than the institutions themselves. Universities must make the case to the American people as to why they are valuable to the nation and are worthy of taxpayer investment.
I thank Taylor University and Tuskegee University for being here. Rarely are HBCUs or religiously oriented universities mentioned in conversations about the landscape of and how to improve America’s higher education system. We will also hear from the Austin, TX Community College District, which offers an interesting perspective beyond traditional four-year universities.
This is a great opportunity for all to share stories about the value you provide to students.
I’ll make one more comment. As I mentioned earlier, I think it's important that everyone has an opportunity to speak to the American people on this important topic. Every person and institution should have the right to make their case.
In light of that, I asked Harvard University to join today’s panel. Harvard University is world-famous for its cutting-edge research, which helps make not just our nation but the world healthier. But there have been recent episodes and a recent report on antisemitism embedded in Harvard’s culture. This would have been Harvard’s chance to tell the Committee and the country how it is addressing antisemitism, removing DEI from its university priorities; and highlight their value as a research institution. Unfortunately, they declined our invitation.
Thank you again to our witnesses for being here. I look forward to discussing how we can improve higher education, so students can succeed in the classroom and beyond.
With that, I recognize Senator Sanders for his opening statement.
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