Community Corner

Murphy Talks Higher Education Reform

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy stopped by Manchester Community College on Friday to talk about the spiraling cost of a college education.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy stopped by Manchester Community College on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, to hold a "roundtable discussion" with students and staff about the ever increasing cost of higher education in America and his plans to introduce legislation later this year to try and help rein in those costs. 

Murphy, a Democrat, noted that he is the youngest member of the United States Senate and that, like a large number of Americans, he and his wife are both still paying back their student loans, and will be for some time to come. 

"Millions of families across the country are squeezed with continuing to pay back their bills and save for their families," he told a room full of about a dozen students and several administrators at MCC Friday morning. 

Murphy said that during the past 20 years the cost of a college education has increased roughly 300 percent, which has well outstripped the normal rate of inflation, and that colleges and universities need to start thinking "outside of the box" in terms of how they award degrees and attract students. 

"You can totally rethink the way that you award degrees," he said. "Maybe we should be awarding degrees based on competency, rather than a somewhat arbitrary number of classes that you have taken."

Manchester Community College President Gena Glickman noted that although most MCC students receive the federal Pell Grant, which covers the cost of their education at the community college, there are still a number of things that add to the cost of a college education, such as books and transportation. Glickman said that MCC tells students to expect to spend about $15,000 a year on the cost of their education. 

Murphy said he was planning to introduce legislation soon that sought to "change the sticker price" on the cost of a college education. He said part of the bill would allow the federal government to give extra funding to schools that are "really innovative" in terms of trying to shrink the cost of a college education, and he also hoped to tie student aid to schools that are deemed to be of "quality" when it comes to students ability to get a job after graduation. 

"We have to find a way to actually legitimately reduce the expense for students," Murphy said. "There are other ways to make schools cheaper other than just loading you guys up with more financial aid." 

After talking about his objectives for several minutes, Murphy opened the discussion up to students in attendance. Many complained of the cost of text books, or of having to work while going to school part-time in order to be able to afford it. A veteran told Murphy that he felt the experience and skills he gained in the military should be counted to satisfy some of his general education requirements. 

"Hopefully I'll be able to use some of the information you guys gave me to make a better product," Murphy said afterwards. 

Josh Quintana, a student at MCC who has been working towards his degree since 2008, said that he enjoyed the discussion and that Murphy touched on many issues that he himself deals with as a student struggling to pay his way through school, but that he was skeptical how much the senator would actually be able to accomplish with the current political gridlock in Washington. 

"The way that Washington is now, it kind of leaves some doubt that a lot of this is going to come to pass," Quintana said. 


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