Rising college tuition costs are not being ignored by Congress.
The House Committee on Education and Labor examined factors contributing to tuition increases and solutions to make college more affordable at a hearing Thursday. The hearing was announced after a report released by the College Board found that tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities have increased by 31 percent in the last five years.
U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the committee's chairman, said the committee would tackle rising tuition in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act by penalizing states that cut spending on higher education. The committee intends to discuss this proposition later in the month.
The Higher Education Act strengthens "the educational resources of our colleges and universities" and provides "financial assistance to students in postsecondary and higher education," according to the act's Web site.
F. King Alexander, president of California State University at Long Beach, testified that "the most influential reason for increases ... in costs is the drastic fluctuations of state appropriations."
The first tuition increase in the UT system was in 2004 when the state appropriations for the UT system were cut by 6 percent for the 2003-05 budget, according to the University of Texas System's Web site.
Congress addressed the issue of rising college tuition earlier this year with the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that provides more than $20 billion in financial assistance to low and middle-income students and their families over the next five years.
"One of Chairman Miller's goals for the reauthorization for the Higher Education Act ... is to work with colleges and universities, as well as other stakeholders, to help colleges rein in increases in prices and help keep college more affordable," Rachel Racusen, a spokeswoman for Rep. Miller, said in an e-mail.
She said a bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act has not been introduced, so there is no specific proposal on the table yet.
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