As a college degree has become more of a necessity in the real world, the price of tuition has increased as well. Both the Republican and Democratic parties in Congress are still attempting to solve the issue of state tuition and loans, but they found it difficult at times because “the more money Washing tries to put in student’s wallets, the cleverer colleges become at capturing that money,” according to The Journal by the Independent Journal Review.
They have not given up yet and are hoping the bills introduced to congress will make a difference.
“Keeping the cost of a college degree affordable is a focus of mine,” U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson said.
In order to do so, Senator Isakson has co-sponsored Senate Bill 108, the FAST Act, which eases the process of applying for and receiving FAFSA by reducing the amount of questions students have to answer. They are also allowing the students to apply earlier and use previous tax information in order to give them additional time to plan financially for college.
In addition to this, he also supported bipartisan legislation in July of 2013. It “lowered the interest rates on federal students loans while tying them to the year bond rates established by the Treasury,” according to Isakson.
Congressman Tom Price has a different approach to the matter and, along with other Republicans, has focused on changing the structure of Pell Grant with a proposed Republican budget. One feature of the budget is to alter the eligibility formula of Pell Grant in order to assist the families who require the aid more so. The budget will also improve other factors that are affecting college tuition such as a poor economy and low wages. In order to do so, the budget proposes plans to improve the tax code and reduce the national debt.
It is important for bills and budgets such as these to work to improve the tuition. “A person with a college degree will earn $1 million more dollars over their lifetime than someone only having a high school diploma,” Senator Isakson said.
The health care at Kennesaw State University has attempted to fulfill the needs of students by accepting most insurance plans, not charging students for office visits and even offering insurance plans to students. However, Senator Isakson has further plans to improve the health care of colleges across the nation.
He is in support of repealing the Affordable Care Act.
“A number of colleges were forced to cancel or significantly raise the cost of their student health coverage plans as a result of Obamacare’s extensive new regulations,” Isakson said.
Instead of this system, he proposes to decrease health coverage cost by stimulating competition within the private sector of health insurance.
The competition “will encourage private health insurers and managed care providers to compete for business and make health insurance more affordable for consumers.”
This could potentially lower the cost for the health insurance plans offered to students at KSU.
Senator Isakson also wants to focus on proposals that concern preventive and wellness care. By doing so, preventable diseases and conditions can be decreased which in turn will lower the cost of managing them.
