Congress Should Incentivize High Quality, Low-Cost Innovative Partnerships that Benefit Students, Witnesses Tell House Education Panel
WASHINGTON, DC – As colleges outsource more functions such as classroom materials, housing, and financial aid disbursement to the private sector, they must ensure that such partnerships operate for the benefit of students, making college more accessible and affordable, not less, witnesses told the House Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee.
“I strongly support innovative partnerships that work to make high quality higher education more affordable and accessible for all students, particularly for low-income and moderate-income students,” said Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), senior Democrat on the subcommittee.
Witnesses on the panel testified that when done correctly, innovative partnerships have the potential to benefit everyone.
“The high – and rapidly rising – cost of traditional textbooks is a significant barrier to enrollment, persistence and success for millions of post?secondary students,” said Rich Baraniuk professor at Rice University and leader in the open education movement, which aims to share knowledge and teaching materials freely over the internet.
Baraniuk launched OpenStax College, a free and open library of college textbooks. The materials are comparable to publisher created content but licensed through a creative commons that allows any professor the ability to create free customized materials. Once built to scale, the OpenStax initiative is expected to save 1.2 million students more than $120 million a year in course materials they may otherwise fund with student loan debt.
While innovative partnerships have the potential to benefit students, institutions and taxpayers, deep concern exists that some partnerships are designed to provide financial gain to colleges and universities while raising costs for students.
"Some colleges have not learned the lessons of the past and are pursuing inappropriate partnerships that increase the overall costs of college for students and families. These 'innovative' attempts to profit off of students should be discouraged," continued Rep. Hinojosa.
A recent ABC News investigation, for example, found multi-million dollar exclusive and secret financial agreements between big banks and college campuses linking debit cards to student IDs that subject students to numerous hidden charges that drive up the costs of college. Additionally, some colleges are increasingly outsourcing their student housing to private contractors to save money. As a result, rooms at some privately financed dormitories can cost students $1,000 more per semester than other dorms on the same campus.
As Congress works to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA), committee Democrats said that a central focus must be on promoting innovation to reduce costs for colleges and students, such as competency based-education, better recognizing prior learning, and stronger articulation agreements.
For more information on the HEA reauthorization, click here.
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