In January 2024, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced the College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA) (H.R.6951), which proposes significant changes to how the federal government finances higher education.
While TICAS shares Chairwoman Foxx’s stated goals of protecting students and taxpayers and lowering college costs, her proposals would instead likely reduce access to federal student loans, make loan repayment more expensive, and threaten the pipeline for socially valuable but lower-paying professions like teaching and social work.
Our new analysis examines the risk-sharing provisions of the CCRA and the impact they might have on a variety of college majors. It shows that the proposal would likely severely disincentivize colleges from offering programs to train teachers and social workers because they could be liable to pay back a significant portion of students’ loans due to factors largely outside their control.
Our higher education system needs reform—but not in the way the CCRA attempts. We urge lawmakers to maintain a focus on college affordability, continue to reduce the burden of student debt, and increase protections for students and taxpayers from waste, fraud, and abuse.
