Bill Text: NJ AR183 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Congress and President to enact legislation to ensure students have access to debt-free higher education at public colleges and universities.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 19)
Status: (Passed) 2016-10-20 - Filed with Secretary of State [AR183 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-AR183-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman JAMEL C. HOLLEY
District 20 (Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Jones
SYNOPSIS
Urges Congress and President to enact legislation to ensure students have access to debt-free higher education at public colleges and universities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution urging Congress and the President of the United States to enact legislation to ensure that students from the State of New Jersey and throughout the United States have access to debt-free higher education at public colleges and universities.
Whereas, A college education is one of the most valuable investments a family can make, but it has never been more difficult for families to afford the dream of college as the cost has grown exponentially in recent decades; and
Whereas, According to the White House, the cost of college has risen more than 250 percent over the last three decades, while income for typical families grew by only 16 percent, making it difficult for a student to graduate without debt; and
Whereas, As a result, an increasing number of young Americans, including many from New Jersey, have been forced to borrow significant amounts to afford the cost of higher education. According to a study from LendEDU, New Jersey ranks ninth in the country in student loan debt, with the average student loan debt for New Jersey's public and private college and university graduates at over $30,000 in 2016; and
Whereas, Student loan debt saddles the very students who most depend on a college degree to level the economic playing field with a burden that constrains their career choices, hurts their credit ratings, prevents them from fully participating in the economy, and threatens essential milestones of the American dream such as buying a home or car, starting a family, and saving for retirement; and
Whereas, Young people in the State of New Jersey and throughout the country should have the same opportunity offered to those who went to college in previous generations, including the ability to attend public colleges and universities without taking on burdensome debt; and
Whereas, Because of the importance of higher education to the nation's economy, the United States and its state governments should expand the opportunity to pursue and attain a college degree; and
Whereas, Public investment in higher education pays off, as evidenced by the fact that workers with college degrees earn more money, pay more taxes, and rely less on government services; and
Whereas, A national goal of establishing a debt-free public higher education system would include significant federal aid to states, including New Jersey; now, therefore,
Be It
Resolved by the General Assembly of the State
of New Jersey:
1. This House urges Congress and the President of the United States to enact legislation to ensure that students from the State of New Jersey and throughout the United States have access to debt-free higher education at public colleges and universities.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and every member of Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges Congress and the President of the United States to enact legislation to ensure that students from the State of New Jersey and throughout the United States have access to debt-free higher education at public colleges and universities.
A college education is one of the most valuable investments a family can make, but it has never been more difficult for families to afford the dream of a college education as the cost has grown exponentially in recent decades. As a result, an increasing number of young Americans, including many from New Jersey, have been forced to assume significant student loan debt to afford the cost of higher education.
Young people in the State of New Jersey and throughout the country should have the same opportunity offered to those who went to college in previous generations, including the ability to attend public colleges and universities without taking on burdensome debt. It should be a public policy goal of the federal government to establish a debt-free public higher education system to enable students to attain a college degree without burdensome debt.
