[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E393-E394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCING THE COLLEGE TUITION REDUCTION AND INFORMATION ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 17, 1998

  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the College 
Tuition Reduction and Information Act. Almost a year ago I, along with 
the Gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Goodling, and a bipartisan list of 
cosponsors, introduced the Cost of Higher Education Review Act of 1997. 
At that time, it was clear to

[[Page E394]]

us that college was too expensive and that college price increases were 
threatening the ability of American families to provide for their 
children's education. That legislation, which has since been enacted, 
established a National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education. The 
job of the Commission was to evaluate why tuitions have increased to 
two-to-three times the rate of inflation every year, and to advise 
Congress and the President on steps which could be taken to bring 
college prices under control.
  The Commission has since finished its work and gone out of existence. 
The legislation we are introducing today will implement a number of the 
recommendations of the Commission. Specifically, this legislation will 
provide students and parents with better information to keep colleges 
accountable and higher education affordable by requiring the Secretary 
of Education to work with institutions to develop a clear set of 
standards for reporting college costs and prices. Under out bill, the 
Secretary of Education will redesign the collection of Federal 
information on college costs and prices to make it more useful and 
timely to the public.
  The College Tuition Reduction and Information Act will allow students 
to make more informed choices about the level of education they pursue 
by requiring the Secretary of Education to collect separate data on the 
cost and price of both undergraduate and graduate education. It will 
help parents and students make informed decisions about the school they 
choose by requiring the Secretary of Education to make available for 
all schools on a yearly basis information on tuition, price, and the 
relationship between tuition increases and increases in institutional 
costs. It will also allow us to keep track of any progress made in 
reducing tuitions by requiring the United States General Accounting 
Office to issue a yearly report on college cost and tuition increases.
  This legislation will reduce the costs imposed on colleges through 
unnecessary or overly burdensome federal regulation by requiring the 
Secretary of Education to undertake a thorough review of regulations 
regarding student financial assistance every two years, and were 
possible repeal, consolidate, or simplify those regulations. The 
Secretary will also report to Congress any recommendations he has with 
regard to legislative changes which would allow increased regulatory 
simplification. Our bill will allow colleges and universities to offer 
voluntary early retirement packages to tenured professors, and it will 
require the General Accounting Office to report to Congress on the 
extent to which unnecessary costs are being imposed on colleges and 
universities as a result of holding them to the same Federal 
regulations that are applied in industrial settings. We expect colleges 
and universities to pass these savings on to students.
  This legislation will keep college affordable by ensuring that every 
American has simpler, more efficient access to higher education by 
bringing the delivery of Federal student financial assistance into the 
21st century and by strengthening Federal support for innovative 
projects addressing issues of productivity, efficiency, quality 
improvement, and cost control at postsecondary institutions.
  Tomorrow, under the leadership of Chairman Goodling, the Committee on 
Education and Workforce will consider the reauthorization of the Higher 
Education Act. A few of the provisions I am introducing today have 
already been incorporated into that legislation. I will be offering the 
remainder of them as an amendment to that legislation early in the 
markup.
  Mr. Speaker, ensuring that a quality postsecondary education remains 
affordable is one of the most important things we can do for our 
children and for American families everywhere.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and to 
cosponsor the College Tuition Reduction and Information Act.

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