(NewsNation) — The Biden administration‘s latest plan to cancel student loan debt is expected to take effect as soon as this week, but Republicans in Congress say colleges should be the ones to foot the bills.
A new bill working its way through the House would hold colleges and universities financially responsible for unpaid loans. It would be based on the total price the institution charges the students and the value-added earnings after they graduate.
House Education Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., introduced the College Cost Reduction Act earlier this month to ultimately lower the cost of college for students.
“We want to have the colleges and universities have some skin in the game on the issue. We want them to bring down the cost of going to college, and we want them not to saddle students with unsupportable debt,” Foxx told NewsNation’s Markie Martin on “Morning in America.”
She continued, “We also want transparency. We want students and families to know exactly what it’s going to cost them and how much financial aid they’re going to get.”
Foxx said the U.S. wants to have the best-educated people in the world, and in the years past, it did. But now, many students are failing to go to college and develop their skills because of the high costs, she said.
High costs have taken away opportunities from Americans who cannot simply afford to go to school.
“Not everyone graduating from high school needs to go to college immediately. But 75% of the people who are now taking college courses don’t meet the criteria that we have in our minds of an 18-year-old leaving high school, going into college full time, 75% of the people don’t meet,” Foxx said.
She explained Congress wants Americans to have access to a lifetime of learning and lawmakers are trying to make it possible for people to be able to enhance the skills they need to have for a productive life.
Community colleges have been fairly supportive of Foxx’s bill. But larger colleges and universities don’t like things to change, Foxx said.
“They love the status quo, but the status quo is not good enough in our country right now,” she said.
