Today, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy, D, CT, Brian Schatz, D, Hawaii, and Patty Murray, D, Wash., introduced the College Affordability and Innovation Act of 2014, which will make college more affordable for students across the United States.
Over the last 30 years, the cost of college has increased by 300 percent.
Student loan debt is now the highest form of personal debt in the nation, reaching over $1.1 trillion for 38 million student loan borrowers across the country.
The College Affordability and Innovation Act focuses on two principles: innovation and accountability.
• It creates a new evidence-based competitive pilot program that would encourage institutions to develop programs that offer high-quality education, lower costs, and reduce the time for completing a degree.
These programs would potentially include online courses, competency-based degrees, dual-enrollment programs, and accelerated degrees.
•It implements rigorous evaluations for new programs. Institutions that receive funding to implement new, innovative programs that reduce the cost of college would undergo rigorous evaluations of these programs to ensure that students are getting a quality education.
•It creates a new commission to recommend minimum accountability standards for all institutions that receive Title IV dollars. A commission made up of students, education experts, and stakeholders would recommend minimum standards for each undergraduate program to meet to remain eligible for federal funding. Those standards will focus on the access schools provide to low- and middle-income students, affordability, and value.
•It would rewards institutions that do best on new accountability measures with funding for need-based aid for students. Institutions that consistently fall below the minimum standards created by the new commission will be expected to improve over a gradual period or face a loss of Title IV eligibility.