US House committee rejects Kilili amendment for college affordability

The Republican majority in a U.S. House of Representatives committee has rejected Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan’s (D-MP) proposal to create a grant program to cover the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for CNMI and American Samoa students who attend a public institution of higher education in a different state or territory.

Republican lawmakers in the Committee on Education and the Workforce voted Wednesday to reject Sablan’s proposed amendment to H.R. 6951, or the College Cost Reduction Act, during a markup on the legislation, which was introduced by committee chair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina).

Despite this defeat of his amendment, Sablan said he will continue to work for every opportunity to expand educational access for the CNMI’s deserving students.

Sablan said in his e-kilili newsletter over the weekend that his proposal was intended to boost education access for college students in the CNMI and American Samoa, majority of whom live below the federal poverty line.

In his remarks during the bill’s markup, Sablan said a quality postsecondary education is a transformational tool that must be made available to all students across the nation regardless of where they live.

Sablan said his amendment would help ensure the students of the Marianas and American Samoa are empowered to pursue higher education.

He said the CNMI and American Samoa are the only two U.S. territories that have no four-year college institutions so students must go off-island for many areas of study.

Sablan’s proposal was modeled after the District of Columbia’s Tuition Assistance Grant Program. He said his amendment will send funds to American public institutions of higher education to cover the difference in the costs of in-state and out-of-state tuition for students.

He said simply put, four-year degrees are too often cost-prohibitive for deserving students in the CNMI and American Samoa even after factoring in federal student aid.

Sablan said in the CNMI, there are families that have gross household income of $30,000, $35,000 to $40,000 a year. He said good colleges’ cost at least $10,000 to $15,000 a semester.