House May Provide $87 Billion In Financial Aid For Students

Congressman George Miller (D-CA) said Tuesday the House will consider an $87 billion piece of legislation aimed at making college more affordable.

“The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act … will allow us to invest $87 billion dollars to make college more affordable, to build a world class community college system, to improve opportunities for our youngest students to succeed and to pay down our deficit,” Miller said during a press conference.

According to Miller, the Act represents the single largest investment of federal college aid in history. Miller said it would give students more help in covering their tuition and expenses, including a historic investment in the Pell Grant Scholarship program, better opportunities to prepare for 21st century jobs and improved financial aid programs.

Miller stressed that Congress will be able to do this with no cost to the taxpayers by undertaking what he described as long overdue student loan reform.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that improving education is essential to recovering the U.S. economy, adding that it will also improve the U.S.’ standing in the international community.

“People still think we do lead the world [in education]. That hasn’t been true for probably two and a half decades. We’re stagnated, we’re flat-lined and other countries have passed us by,” Duncan said.

“We’re not asking the taxpayers for one single dollar. We’re simply making the choice to stop subsidizing banks, to invest our young people back here,” Duncan added.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the President’s outlook of economic recovery had three pillars: education, healthcare and energy policy.

“This was in the context of a budget that was fiscally sound that we gave tax cuts to America’s middle class would reduce the deficit,” Pelosi said.