MonticelloLive

The rising cost of college tuition has taken a heavy toll on working families across Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District. These costs have impacted our workforce preparedness and our economic outlook in recent years. As the son of public school educators, I have always held a public school education in the highest regard, and am proud to help lower the cost of a college education for our students.
Recently, I helped pass “The College Opportunity and Affordability Act,” (H.R. 4137), which will make college more affordable and accessible for millions of American students. This legislation will reform our higher education system by holding colleges and universities accountable for their tuition increases and simplifying the financial aid process for low-income students.
The College Opportunity and Affordability Act also increases aid to support our veterans and their families by ensuring fairness in student and housing aid to make it easier for them to get a degree while fulfilling their military duties. It would also expand access for minority students by funding Pell Grants and programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority serving schools to make college more affordable for even more Americans.
This historic investment to help our students and families pay for college is a critical step towards growing and strengthening our nation’s working families. I believe we have an obligation and a moral duty to ensure that our students have access to a quality education which will drive our nation’s prosperity and lead the way to a brighter future for our country. Today’s students will be tomorrow’s innovators which will help strengthen our economy, create new jobs here at home and help America compete in this new global economy.