Students from colleges in Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey also supported the five-point program and spoke of their struggles with mounting debt and career choices.
Nicolette Schellato, a senior at Salem State College in Salem, Mass., is a single mother and low-income student at the college. She testified that the “high cost of college can be intimidating when you come from close to nothing.
“Not all are lucky as me to do unpaid internships or have the time to participate in student government,” added Emma Simpson, student president at the University of Maryland-College Park. “I am speaking on behalf of 10,000 students at Maryland who need an opportunity to excel.”
Andrew Klenkowski, a student from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, said he could afford college only by joining the National Guard and serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Like the other students, he backed the five-point access and affordability plan and emphasized the need to create national programs for returning veterans.
The Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions also provided testimony during the hearing. Jean Avnet Morse, vice chair of the council and president of the Middle States Commission of Higher Education said C-RAC supports waiting to adopt new regulations until after the U.S. Congress completes the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
“We recommend … improving student learning without derailing the important work of regional accreditors to improve student learning that is underway,” she said.
— By Shilpa Banerji
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
