Sen. Al Franken
U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., a member of the Senate Education Committee, recently continued his efforts to cut the cost of college for students in Minnesota and across the country by introducing legislation to expand access to programs that allow students to earn college credits while in high school.
Earning college credits through accelerated learning programs like Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate programs, dual enrollment programs, postsecondary enrollment options, and early college high schools can cut the cost of college by helping students earn degrees in less time.
At a time when student debt nationwide is over a trillion dollars and has surpassed credit card debt, and students are graduating with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, Franken said that access to accelerated learning programs can help students save a tremendous amount of money in college costs. The College Board estimates that federal funding for the AP Test Fee and Incentive Program produces a potential $285 million in college cost savings.
“Students and families in Minnesota and all around the country understand that the cost of college is a real front-burner issue,”said Franken. “As a member of the Senate Education Committee, I’ve made tackling college affordability one of my top priorities. We need to address the issue with commonsense solutions, and that’s why we should be doing things like expanding access to programs that let students earn college credits while in high school. My legislation saves students money and can help them get their degrees sooner.”
The Accelerated Learning Act of 2015, first introduced by Franken in 2013 and reintroduced recently, would reauthorize the existing federal funding stream to provide competitive grants to help states cover the costs of offering AP and IB exam fees for low-income students and improve access to AP, IB, dual enrollment, postsecondary enrollment options, and early college high school programs for low-income students.
During his time in the Senate, Franken has made college affordability one of his top priorities. He introduced the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., which would give more than 550,000 Minnesotans and 25 million Americans the opportunity to refinance their student loan debt at lower rates offered to new borrowers. Right now, people can refinance their homes, car loans, and business loans — but not student loan debt. Franken’s bill would change that.
Franken has also introduced two bipartisan bills to help students and their families better understand and prepare for the costs of higher education, and he introduced the Affordable College Textbook Act with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to expand access to free, online textbooks.
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Sen. Al Franken
