Opinion

ANDREA FOSTER: Rep. Foxx, please keep higher education affordable

Saturday, April 28, 2018 -- I am not living my college days in a luxurious hammock. Paying the incredibly high costs of not only tuition but also basic necessities, such as housing and food, is overwhelming. As lawmakers consider updating the Higher Education Act, I urge them to truly take into account the experiences of students today, so that they create a set of laws that will meet our needs, not cut off access to aid and our dreams for the future.

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Rep. Virginia Fox, R-NC
EDITOR'S NOTE: Andrea Foster is a senior at Winston-Salem State University. She's a social work major from Henderson.
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina serves as the chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and she also represents my school, Winston-Salem State University. She recently co-authored an op-ed for the Washington Times. In the piece, she refers to the Higher Education Act and our student aid system as a “luxurious hammock in which students can repose.”

As a student who is working two on-campus jobs and a third job back home, I can assure you that I am not living my college days in a luxurious hammock. Paying the incredibly high costs of not only tuition but also basic necessities, such as housing and food, is overwhelming. As lawmakers consider updating the Higher Education Act, the sweeping legislation that governs our higher education system, I urge them to truly take into account the experiences of students today, so that they create a set of laws that will meet our needs, not cut off access to aid and our dreams for the future.

Rep. Foxx began her op-ed by saying “you can’t put a price on education, the saying goes, but if you did it would be very high. And the cost falls on everyone.” The price of education is the price for my future, and I will be paying it for many years to come.

The average student loan borrower graduates college with over $30,000 in debt. My debt is rising toward that number. Student loan debt is going to influence my decisions on buying a home, starting a family, and the kind of career I work in.  I am deeply concerned that I may struggle to keep up with my loan payments, which could hurt the credit that I have been working hard to establish.
We desperately need lawmakers to help lower the cost of college and increase the amount of aid available. Primarily, we need states to reinvest in higher education and our futures. We struggle to pay increasing tuition and fees every year, sinking us deeper into debt. USA Today reported that 61 percent of North Carolina graduates from 2015 had student loan debt. We need to reverse this trend.
Aid and loans are the only way so many of my peers and I have any chance of going to school. Pell Grants help nearly 8 million low and moderate-income students attend college. Every year when I receive my financial aid awards, the Pell Grant gives me the greatest sense of relief and support.  Pell Grants give so many students in my hometown of Henderson, North Carolina, a chance further their educations.
Despite how important they are, Pell Grants have not increased along with the rise of college costs. As of 2017, the Pell Grant covered less than 30 percent of a four-year public college cost, whereas in the 1980s, Pell Grants covered over 50 percent of the cost.

Without sufficient financial aid, students have no choice but to turn to loans. Just getting to school can feel like finishing an extremely challenging race, and without a federal loan, we wouldn’t be able to finish it. Rep. Foxx says that we need to “curtail student loans,” but cutting off the access to loans would mean cutting off access to a degree, and the job opportunities that come with it, for so many students in the country.

Rep. Foxx also wants to eliminate all loan forgiveness. I wish she understood how important loan forgiveness is to students today. Public Service Loan Forgiveness means that we can pursue meaningful careers in lower-paying jobs, like becoming a teacher or working at a local non-profit organization, without having to grapple with unpayable student debt. Doing good work that gives back to the community should not be a privilege reserved only for those who didn’t have to take on debt. And after decades of payments, general income-based repayment loan forgiveness means that I might be able to start my own business without debt preventing me from getting started.

I hope that lawmakers will make students their priority during this Higher Education Act reauthorization. I hope to see loan forgiveness protected and increased federal aid, like Pell Grants, to help more students go to college. With the cost of tuition skyrocketing, it is our only chance of affording school.  Students shouldn’t be robbed of the chance to reach our full potential because we can’t access higher education.

I hope my Congresswoman, Rep. Foxx, will help the thousands of students in her district and in our country succeed.

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