[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14200-14201]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      AFFORDABLE HIGHER EDUCATION

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I take this time to talk about a fair shot 
for American families on quality, affordable higher education. It is 
very appropriate that the Senator from New Jersey is presiding because 
he has been one of the great leaders in the Senate on the affordability 
of higher education, and it has been a pleasure to work with him.
  Let me go through some of the numbers because they are somewhat 
shocking. We have 20 million students who enter college every year, and 
60 percent will exit with student debt. The majority of students who 
now attend college will have to borrow money in order to be able to get 
a college education. Thirty-seven million Americans today have college 
loans that are outstanding. Yes, we know some are young professionals 
and some are older people. I was surprised to learn that almost 8 
million Americans over the age of 50 have college loans that are still 
outstanding. So this is a burden many American families will have for 
the rest of their lives.
  The average debt today is $29,000, and that number is rising 
dramatically every year. So when a student graduates, the average debt 
they carry is $29,000. There is $1.2 trillion in outstanding college 
loans--more than credit card debt.
  As the Senator from New Jersey pointed out earlier today, the 
percentage of a family's disposable income they need in order to pay 
for a college education--which we need for global competition and for 
competition in this country--is far higher than any other 
industrialized country in the world by far, equaling almost 50 percent 
of disposable income. That is a shocking number. Education is the great 
equalizer, and for many American families it is out of reach because of 
the cost and the necessity to borrow money.
  Let me get beyond the numbers for a moment and talk a little bit 
about the people. Last Thursday Senator Mikulski and I were on the 
campus of Bowie State University and UMBC. Bowie State is one of our 
historically Black colleges and universities in Maryland, located in 
Prince George's County. We had a chance to not only meet with Dr. 
Mickey Burnim, the president of Bowie State University, but with 
students as well around a table to talk about how they go about trying 
to arrange for scholarships and loans in order to be able to afford a 
college education.
  Bowie State University is a good buy compared to other colleges; 
tuition is only around $5,000. One would think those students are in 
good shape, but let me tell my colleagues about the realities.
  Dr. Burnim was explaining to us that on the first day of school, many 
students who they thought would be enrolled were not enrolled. Why? 
Because they couldn't put together the total financial package in order 
to satisfy the tuition costs, so they were not formally enrolled.
  I was talking to some students at that roundtable discussion who 
explained to me that there were students who showed up for the first 
day of class without the textbook because they couldn't afford the 
textbook. Now they are going to be behind before they even start 
because of the high cost of a college education.
  Here we are at a State college, and the average debt held by a 
student graduating from Bowie is $27,800--at a State college. That is a 
shocking number.
  The same number, if we go through the same thing at UMBC--where the 
president is Dr. Freeman Hrabowski--one of the great universities of 
our country--they find so many tools to help their students with loans, 
scholarships, work-study programs, and the debt there is also over 
$20,000 a year for their graduating seniors. It is affecting their 
ability to perform in college.
  What do I mean by that? There are large amounts of debt they have to 
take care of. The students do everything they can to reduce their debt, 
so they work. In some cases they work more than one job and attend 
college. It affects their ability to perform and successfully complete 
college.
  At Bowie State it takes about 6 years to do a 4-year program because 
the students are working and are having a hard time meeting the credit 
requirements.
  In some cases I was told there are students who want to take a summer 
class because it was offered, it was needed for their major, and it 
would allow them to graduate in a more timely way, but they couldn't 
afford to take the summer class because the Pell grants aren't 
available in the summertime.
  I thank Senator Harkin, the chairman of the committee of 
jurisdiction, for offering legislation that would correct that, that 
would allow for Pell grants to be available on a 12-month basis. That 
would help.
  Yes, the effect of the high cost of education is first and foremost 
on the individual. Too many children are not going to college, too many 
children are not going to the college of their choice, and too many 
students are taking too many years to graduate because of the high cost 
of college. Too many students aren't going on to those advanced degrees 
because they have too much debt, they have to work, and they have to 
pay off their student loans.
  Too many students don't have all the training they need in order to 
do the best for themselves, and it is affecting their ability to 
succeed economically. They are delayed in their career choices because 
of extra years of college, and it is affecting their ability to buy 
homes because they have student debt.
  It is affecting our communities. There are less retail consumers than 
there would otherwise be. Yes, it is affecting our global competition; 
yes, we have to increase Pell grants; yes, we have to increase public 
support; and, yes, we have to increase transparency, but we can, this 
week and next, do something about it by passing the Bank on Students 
Emergency Loan Refinancing Act.
  I thank Senator Warren and Senator Franken for leading our effort. 
This will allow us to refinance loans. People can't today, they can't 
refinance student loans. They can't take advantage of the lower 
interest rates. People who

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have student loans are paying thousands of dollars of extra interest 
costs.
  Let's refinance it. The government shouldn't be making money off the 
backs of student loan holders because the interest rates are lower than 
what they are charging. Let's refinance. That will save thousands of 
dollars for families and would help us have more affordable 
opportunities for education in our community.
  Let's give a fair shot to American families. Let's take up and pass 
the Bank on Student Emergency Loan Refinancing Act to allow those 
millions of Americans who are currently holding student debt to 
refinance at lower rates, saving thousands of dollars and helping 
Americans afford a college education.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schatz). The Senator from Minnesota.

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