Morning Call (November 5, 2019): When U.S. Navy veteran Rachel Leon decided to enroll in college after 10 years of military service, she found out the GI Bill® would cover the cost of attending Northampton Community College.
But as she plans for eventually transferring to a four-year institution, Leon already is bracing for the bill. The 33-year-old Bethlehem resident’s military benefits won’t cover the full cost of local private colleges, and she sees her fellow students also overwhelmed trying to juggle tuition costs, health care and other expenses.
“It’s so sad to me that people are buckling under the pressure of medical costs and student loans,” Leon said. “That’s not the country I fought for.”
Legislation advancing in the U.S. House of Representatives could help alleviate those financial burdens, if it can find a path to the president’s desk amid impeachment distractions and skepticism from a Republican-controlled Senate.
Dubbed the College Affordability Act, the bill is a rebranded version of the Higher Education Act, which outlines a broad swath of federal higher education policy. Among other provisions, it would boost the size of Pell grants, a federal aid program based solely on financial need, and expand how they can be used; simplify the application form for federal student aid and the loan repayment programs; create new grants to aid students with unexpected emergency costs to prevent them from leaving school; and offer incentives to states that offer tuition-free community college programs.
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This article originally appeared in the Morning Call on November 5, 2019. To read it on the Morning Call website, please visit: At Lehigh Valley colleges, Rep. Susan Wild touts bill to make college ‘more affordable, more inclusive’