Date: 2014-07-24
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Chair. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chair. we all know that higher education is a key to the ladder of success in the United States. It is one of the most important things that we can invest in. We just recently saw a study that showed that if. in fact. you have a 4year degree. you are going to make significantly more than if you just graduated from high school. You can imagine that in todays worldat least where I live in California. the innovation Statea masters or a doctorate is really what you need to have. The value of a degree is very. very important. but we also see. of course. the student debt increasing. Students get out with their bachelors degree. have a mound of debt. and then they are trying to get a masters. a Ph.D.. or a profession. It is very. very difficult. One of the most vital programs that we have in the United States is the Pell grant program to help them. But lets face it. it is very difficult to understand all the ins and outs of how to get a Pell grant. how you use it. the purpose. how many units you can take. what you cant take. how long it can take you. et cetera. et cetera. So it is another burden that we are putting on the students and the families when they dont really get the good picture of how to use that program. My amendment would help spell out for students and families how that Pell grant would be used. It would simply require institutions to better counsel transfer students on their maximum Pell grant eligibility and the effect that it may have as a result of credits in courses that dont transfer to another institution. I know that. at least in California. when we look to go to the university. we usually say lets do the first year at the least expensive place to do it. and that would be our community collegewhich. by the way. they are the gems of our community. They are doing incredible work. But sometimes when students using the Pell grant get there. they might have. for example. some remedial classes. They might have to brush up on their English or their math. In doing that. the Pell grant is being used up. and then those units dont transfer to that 4year university they go to. So the student ends up miscalculating what it is really going to cost them to finish off their diploma. This amendment simply looks to make these types of obstacles obvious and transparent to possible transfer students so as to have the clearest view of their degree timelines and the impact on their financial aid. Lets ensure that students have the clearest information. that they get it upfront. and that they understand how they are going to get this done. In fact. a lot of these students are sometimes firsttimers in their families who are trying to achieve a diploma from a university. We are still miles away from getting that achievement gap closed in many of our communities. I know we have been working on it for a long time now in Orange County. California. but this will be a little piece of trying to get that. While I am at it. I would like to thank Congressman GUTHRIE. Congressman HUDSON. and Congresswoman BONAMICI. who have. in good faith. championed the work on this bill. I still wish we could get to the Higher Education Act. but if we cant do that. this is a good first step. I reserve the balance of my time.