In response to the college admissions bribery scandal, House lawmakers have proposed a bill that they say would help students pay off their student loan debt.
According to a report from The Hill, lawmakers from across the political divide are coming together to help students pay off their student loan debt. The bill was proposed as a response to the ongoing investigation into the dozens of high-profile Americans who allegedly participated in William “Rick” Singer’s wide-ranging college admissions scam.
Republican Representative Mark Green and Democratic Representative Vicente Gonzalez coauthored a new bill that would allow students to pay off their student debt via an “income share agreement.” Through the proposal, students would be permitted to pay a percentage of their income to their college or university over a fixed term of years. This option would help some Americans feel less intimidated by increasing tuition costs.
Both congressmen released statements explaining that the college admissions scandal motivated them to propose a measure that would make college accessible to more Americans.
“When our country is reeling from bombshell reports that have taught us some members of America’s elite class have gamed the systems of higher learning by bribing admissions counselors and bumping deserving kids from families with less money and influence onto wait lists, now more than ever we need policy solutions that would open up the college admissions process to deserving children from struggling families,” Green wrote.
“Currently, over 44 million Americans are burdened by $1.5 trillion in outstanding federal student loan debt. This bipartisan legislation would aim to level the playing field by allowing alternative repayment options through income share agreements,” Gonzalez added in his own statement. “More importantly, the bill would ensure colleges and universities are doing their part to put graduating students on the pathway to a good paying job.”
Last week, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) proposed a bill that seeks to end tax breaks for donations made to universities or colleges before and during periods in which the donor’s child attends the institution.
“Yesterday’s headlines about the wealthiest Americans buying access to our elite colleges and universities is just a new version of an old story,” Wyden said last week. “The federal government shouldn’t be perpetuating this system by awarding tax breaks to these contributions, contributions that return to the donor a benefit of inestimable value.”
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this legislation.
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