Senators Hatch, Shaheen Introduce Bipartisan Bill To improve Quality Of College Education

Press Release

Today, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced bipartisan legislation to improve the quality of college by strengthening the federal standard by which colleges are eligible for federal student aid. The Student Protection and Success Act would help address the interrelated problems of the questionable quality of many college degrees, the high number of students dropping out of college nationwide, and the high number of graduates and non-graduates who are not paying down their college loans. The nation's college drop-out rate is 40 percent at four-year institutions and the amount of federal loans that are in default, forbearance, or deferment as a result of economic hardship or unemployment is up to $110 billion. Despite this, last year the Department of Education, as the result of a poor standard for evaluating the quality of colleges, only sanctioned 21 schools for high default rates and 12 of those were beautician schools.

"College students deserve some assurance that their investment in education through loans will prepare them to be both competitive in the workforce and able to repay their debts," Hatch said. "Schools that are not producing these returns are not good stewards of taxpayer dollars, and should be responsible for helping recuperate some of the money borrowed. We can argue that the cost of college is too high, but as long as the education prepares the student to enter the workforce and receive a substantial return on this cost, we can rest assured that the cost is merited. The dream of a college education should not come tied to an insurmountable mountain of debt, especially if the education it pays for does not provide the most basic skills and education to conquer it."

"Students take on college loans on the assurance that they're worth the investment in their future," said Shaheen. "However, the promise of a college education is eroding as more and more students either drop out or graduate with a degree that doesn't lead to a good job. It's time to hold colleges accountable for this nationwide problem. The Student Protection and Success Act will take long-overdue steps to weed out poorly performing institutions who are good at getting students to enroll, but exceptionally poor at preparing students for the workforce and, therefore, shouldn't be subsidized by federal assistance. This legislation will incentivize colleges across the country to improve the quality of their programs."

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