Opinion: It’s hard enough to afford college. Now Republicans want to make it impossible.

A new bill would limit financial aid, make it more difficult to get, and close off poor, rural areas from a better future, a data science student at North Carolina A&T State University writes.

Most American high school students experience the joy of the college fair. It offers a break from classes to join your friends and walk around the gymnasium, sharing with representatives of various colleges your dreams of the bright future you’ve imagined for yourself. 

The major you’re interested in, the career, and the city you’d love to move to – you have high hopes, and let your aspirations spread far and wide. You could say it’s the American Dream. But the truth is, the American Dream has always been costly. And it could become even costlier. 

A dangerous bill, widely coined The Most Dangerous Higher Education Bill in the US, has worked its way through Congress and could block working-class and poor students from higher education for good. If passed, it would gut the systems that allow students to afford college tuition and repay their student loans.

 It would:

• Eliminate subsidized loans for new borrowers
• Limit access to Pell Grants and Parent PLUS loans
• Consolidate income-driven into a single option that delays forgiveness to 30 years

On April 29th, the Committee for Education and Workforce began marking up this bill, which, if passed, will reshape and shift higher education in the US for decades. 

Here are some facts: Over 32% of undergraduate students in NC rely on Pell grants, and more than 25% of NC students rely on federal student loans to pay their college tuition. 

Let me be clear: even if you have never attended college, this will undoubtedly affect your life, too. That nurse at your doctor’s office. The teachers at your child’s school. The social worker supporting your community. These are just a few of the people who keep our communities afloat, educate the next generation, and heal us. We are all affected. If we block access to those who want to pursue these careers, we all lose, and our society suffers. 

This is not new. Historically, higher education wasn’t meant to be accessible. It was designed for wealthy white men. Everyone else–women, Black people, working-class people–was left out. Over the generations, we fought for access to. HBCUs like my alma mater, North Carolina A&T State University, were founded because we weren’t allowed access to other colleges and universities. 

Now, this bill is a clear sign that we are being dragged backward, returning us to the old days, where higher education was relegated to the upper echelon. It removes protections that have allowed people like me, you, and your children access to education and stability, a way to work for a better future. 

North Carolina is home to many public universities, HBCUs, and community colleges. We’ve long held higher education in high regard. But this bill would shut out working-class and poor people — especially from rural areas — from higher education. It would discourage many students from pursuing college. 

The bill is a war on access and affordability and is a clear threat to the future that we’ve been envisioning. America is under threat and would be completely altered for generations with the passing of this bill.

We have to push back. Contact your representatives. Tell them to oppose this bill as it would put the United States into a dangerous backslide.