In late June, the House Republicans aired a promotional video about its budget settlement bill, a large Beautiful Act that claims it would “get Americans to get Americans’ dreams again.” That dream – Anyone in this country can achieve prosperity and success through hard work and determination, which is what led people to come to America and stay. No wonder politicians use this promise as part of the reason for the need to change.
Higher education has long been one of the most reliable paths to economic security in the United States, which is the foundation of the dream. So President Trump and Congressional Republicans hope to undermine this vision of the American Dream, and that is the result. A large and beautiful bill bill will reshape federal student aid in a way that changes opportunities for higher education and keeps Americans out every day.
Nationally representative survey data from New Midea’s nonpartisan think tank shows that what Americans really need to keep their dreams is clear: an affordable higher education. But they think that college is out of reach. Nine out of 10 people believe that college costs are the biggest factor preventing families from going to college. Three-quarters of Americans agree that after high school, the federal government should spend more taxes on educational opportunities to make them more affordable, including most Republicans and Democrats.
Americans also believe in responsibility for this investment. They want a system that rewards efforts, responsibilities, and outcomes, that is, the fundamental values that are consistent with the American Dream. Most of both parties say colleges and universities should lose their taxpayer support if their students earn no more than typical high school graduates, or if they have difficulty paying off their students’ loan debts.
Once enacted, the new law will prune the Pell Grant Program, leaving some middle-income families unqualified who once qualified for a small amount of Pell Grant. Federal student loans will look very different, with graduates, parents and lifelong borrowing restrictions and a substantial cut in small amounts of repayment options, for those struggling borrowers. These changes will close a door for many low- and middle-income Americans, which can lead to an affordable assistant or bachelor’s degree. Meanwhile, by expanding the Pell grant to a short-term vocational training program, the law opens another door for short-term certificates in just eight weeks without supervision and consumer protection. Our research shows time and time again that these very short certificates do not provide economic stability or improve employment prospects.
While the law will take meaningful responsibility steps and will cut off from federal loan associate and graduate programs that fail to make money to students, these measures exclude short-term certificate programs for all undergraduates, which tend to have the worst results. Even if most of their students are working to repay the loan, this will allow the program to continue to operate.
Overall, the massive cuts of these changes have resulted in nearly $300 billion in key funding to ensure students receive a quality education after high school. It will increase the risk of dropout (we know it is a major predictor of student loan defaults) and will push families toward private financing products with fewer consumer protections.
While the president and Congressional Republicans said the cuts were necessary under the auspices of expanding tax cuts, improving fiscal responsibility and reforming higher education, the fact is that the law will not achieve this. By expanding tax cuts to wealthy Americans, this will add at least $3 trillion to our deficit, while depriving daily Americans of funds from key programs such as Medicaid, snapshots and student aid. It does not help and cannot solve the fundamental problem that promotes university costs. It ignores target solutions that will promote affordability and expand accountability. Such thoughtful reforms would require bipartisan reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which is overdue for more than a decade.
Although Republicans in Washington say it makes the American Dream visit again, the law will only make it even more out of reach. All students trying to get education, from welders to electricians, nurses, teachers and doctors, who are trying to get education will change seriously. These are not “elites”, but core components. They are working for adults, veterans and parents, hoping to live a better life for their children and hope that the American Dream can still come true. Instead, they will find that their government has abandoned them.
“The American Dream will come back soon and never flourish as before,” President Trump said in his inaugural address in January. But, in reality, it’s suffocating. It’s too late to change this new law, but moving forward to Congress and the Trump administration must concentrate everyday Americans and act cautiously before such earthquake cuts can be made. This is not a partisan issue, but a question of national interests and prosperity. Failure to consider future legislation that makes student-centered higher education reforms will have political and generational consequences in the coming years. It sends a message to prospective students that only family wealth can bring about college opportunities and that it doesn’t matter how much effort or determination they put into.
