College Affordability

A national trend over the last 30 years has seen the burden of financing higher education shift from the state to the student. Almost 65 percent of students graduating in 2003-04 took out loans to help pay for college. The average student debt burden in 2004 was almost 60 percent higher than the mid 1990's. Nearly two out of three college students owe an average of more than $19,000. And, 37 percent of graduates of public institutions and 55% of graduates from private institutions say their starting salaries are insufficient to repay college debt.

The cost of attending a public four-year college has almost doubled over the last 20 years. Every year, approximately 400,000 qualified high school graduates cannot afford to go on to college.

Last year, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. This helped to make the dream of higher education a reality for most low- and middle-income students. The legislation would implement several student loan program reforms designed to eliminate waste and mismanagement, but there's more work to do.

 NEA needs your help on this issue.

Tell your U.S. Senators and Representatives: Help ensure that every qualified student can pursue the dream of higher education.

Higher Education Act Reauthorization

Congress is still working on an overall Higher Education Act reauthorization bill.

The Senate has passed the Higher Education Amendments of 2007 (S. 1642), to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. Positive provisions include:

• Changes to the definition of "teaching skills" to reflect the broader range of skills needed to implement multiple measures of student assessment;
• Increased focus on induction and teaching residency programs;
• Efforts to help teachers learn how to foster parental involvement in their classrooms;
• Focus on training teachers in early education.

NEA has concerns about inclusion in the Senate bill of the NEA-opposed "academic bill of rights," which would make ideologically driven changes to the principle of nonintervention in curriculum and teaching under the guise of protecting students against purported, unproven bias by faculty. 

The House has also passed its reauthorization bill, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (H.R. 4137). The bill includes numerous positive provisions, including those that would help ensure equal college opportunities and fair learning environments for students with disabilities, expand college access for low-income and minority students, streamline the federal student financial aid application, and provide supports to help students transition seamlessly from community colleges to four-year programs. In a major victory for NEA, the House bill does not include the Academic Bill of Rights.

 NEA needs your help on this issue.

Tell your U.S. Senators and Representative: Protect academic freedom and the free and open exchange of ideas by rejecting the inclusion of the "Academic Bill of Rights" in the final higher education reauthorization bill.

I need more info:

• NEA's Position on Academic Freedom  
• Letters to Congress
• NEA's Higher Education Web Site

Higher Education for Undocumented Immigrants

Current federal law prevents many talented undocumented immigrants who have lived much of their lives in the United States and have graduated from high school from pursuing higher education. Bipartisan legislation (the DREAM Act, H.R. 12754/S. 774) has been introduced in Congress to allow states to determine their own residency rules, thereby permitting them to offer in-state tuition and higher education benefits to undocumented students.

 NEA supports this proposal.

Tell your U.S. Senators and Representatives to give talented students the opportunity to excel and contribute to our country by passing the DREAM Act.

I need more info:

• NEA's Position on the DREAM Act
• Letters to Congress
• NEA's Higher Education Web Site