Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) plans to introduce two new pieces of legislation Tuesday that target higher education monopolies, Hill.TV has exclusively learned.
The first provides federal student aid dollars to students pursuing vocational training or education by targeting the Pell Grant system. The proposed law first opens up Pell Grants to institutions that provide job training or other alternative certifications and instructs the Department of Education to create a certification pathway for such institutions.
“There’s no reason we should only be privileging those students who want to go to traditional 4 year institutions, we need to allow these opportunities in the form of these tax dollars to follow these students into other opportunities, other outlets that will help them get the skills they need to get the career path that’s right for them,” Hawley told Hill.TV in a phone interview.
The second measure dramatically takes aim at student loan debt by requiring higher education institutions to pay off 50 percent of the balance of student loans for those who attended their institution and end up in default. The bill also prohibits them from increasing the cost of attendance.