Republican Representative Tom Reed of New York has unveiled a detailed plan that will push colleges to become more affordable under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. One of the key policies in Reed’s proposal includes enforcing transparency regarding how schools manage their funds.
During the campaign period, the rising college tuition fees became one of the hot topics tackled by the various presidential candidates from different parties. Now that Trump has been elected as the new president of the country, he has gained the position to finally address this matter.
One of the individuals who will be spearheading Trump’s policies on the education sector is Reed, who is currently a member of his transition team. On Monday, Reed unveiled a proposal that the Congress can use to pressure college institutions to lower their fees, according to The Hill.
In one of Reeds policies, the representative noted that schools with endowments of over $1 billion will be required to use 25 percent of funding’s investment gains to make college fees more affordable to students coming from middle-class families.
If schools refuse to comply with this condition, then their investment income will be subjected to a 30 percent tax rate. If they continue to violate this term, then they could end up facing a 100 percent tax rate increase.
Aside from this, Reed’s proposal will also require colleges to disclose information regarding their budget, funding and investments. This also includes providing in detail the various benefits awarded to top administrators. Through a transparency, Congress will be able to analyze how educational institutions manage their financial resources.
Lastly, Reed wants to implement an incentive system for schools that are able to minimize their yearly expenses. Through this policy, the universities will be required to submit detailed cost-containment plans to the Department of Education. Those that are successfully in keeping expenses low will be rewarded while those that fail to do so will be penalized by the department.
