For years, higher education has become increasingly unaffordable for students and families. As a first-generation college student from a working-class family and a Black woman pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, I unfortunately am all too familiar with this fact.
In high school, I had dreamed of getting away from my hometown of Cincinnati and having the type of college experience I saw on TV. Then I received my financial aid award letters and realized that, even with the federal Pell Grant and student loans, my family and I would still have to pay out of pocket to fully cover the costs of my dream schools. I was quickly hit with a devastating reality check that my regional institution, the University of Cincinnati, was my only option — there, with the help of the Pell Grant and the Ohio College Opportunity Grant, the majority of my tuition and fees were covered. But still, that didn’t cover my housing, food, or other essential needs. Within my first semester as an undergraduate at UC, I found myself juggling two part-time jobs and a full-time course load, while striving hard to maintain my well-being. These circumstances continued as I entered graduate school at the University of Michigan, but this time, I used Grad PLUS loans for my tuition and fees, which significantly increased my student debt.
Now, Republicans in Congress want to make it even harder for those in my shoes
These experiences, although challenging to navigate, made me aware of the importance of federal student aid programs in promoting college access and success. It also confirmed a hard truth I reckoned with: Our higher education system is broken, making a path to and through college for students like me unnecessarily difficult. And yet, despite all my trials and tribulations, I am considered one of the lucky ones — I got the chance to attend and graduate from college, whereas others haven’t been as fortunate. Now, Republicans in Congress want to make it even harder for those in my shoes.
Last week, as many of us were sleeping, the U.S. House of Representatives and its staffers were working overnight to push through a massive tax bill that would deliver $4.5 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthy. The tax bill narrowly passed, with 215 Republicans voting in favor, and 212 Democrats plus two Republicans, 214 in total, voting against it. (Three Republicans refrained from voting in either direction.) This so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” as named by President Donald Trump, is actually a Big Barbaric Bill with far-reaching adverse effects on families if passed into law. The bill covers a multitude of issues, including cuts in funding for Medicaid and Medicare, which will result in nearly 14 million Americans losing health insurance coverage by 2034. The bill also targets food assistance programs, such as SNAP, with estimates that almost 11 million people will lose some or all of their benefits if enacted. But there are also certain actions included in the bill that, if it becomes a law, will directly hit college students, including:
- Slashing Pell Grants, which means cutting off millions of the lowest-income students from critical grant aid; one in seven undergraduate students relies on Pell Grants to afford college.
- Eliminating subsidized loans and the Grad PLUS loan program, forcing students and families into the riskier and more expensive private student loan market to pay for college.
- Spiking monthly student loan bills for millions of working families with student debt, making repayment unaffordable, and leading to more borrowers in default.
I know first-hand what this means: more dreams deferred, more opportunities struck dead. It’s unacceptable.
These cuts have real consequences for everyday people across our country — the same families already struggling to cope with the rising costs of food, rent, and other essential goods. I have heard from students who are already worried about going to college if their Pell Grants will be cut due to this bill. I have heard from fellow graduate students who are now facing the impossible choice of abandoning their degrees or taking on predatory private loans. I have heard from parents who can’t fathom how they’ll ever afford to send their children to college while still struggling to pay off their own student loans.
Months ago, then-presidential candidate Trump and his Republican allies promised to lower everyday costs. Now that he’s in office, nothing could be further from the truth. Today, we are watching Congressional Republicans move mountains to pass a bill robbing their own constituents of lifesaving healthcare, food assistance, and educational aid, all to make their billionaire donors even richer.
This tax bill is an attack on families, working-class communities, and students like me who dared to follow our dreams
This is not the American way, and we don’t have to see it become reality. House Republicans passed this bill at dawn, hoping we wouldn’t notice. We noticed. Now, communities across the country are speaking out to say enough.
Enough to a system that tells us to pull ourselves up by bootstraps we can’t even afford.
Enough to politicians who think our futures are negotiable.
Enough to the lie that we should be grateful for scraps while the 1% feast on our labor.
We have the right to more than scraps. We deserve to achieve our educational dreams without incurring a lifetime of debt. This tax bill is an attack on families, working-class communities, and students like me who dared to follow our dreams, despite the odds stacked against us, in pursuit of making a difference.
There is still time to take action and prevent this bill from being enacted. The House and Senate are in recess and will reconvene in Washington D.C. on June 2. Senators are expected to collaborate discreetly to propose amendments to the bill before presenting it for debate on the Senate floor later in June.
If you don’t want to see them pass it, call your Senators and tell them to reject these harmful cuts and put their constituents before billionaires. (You can do so easily by calling the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121.) Even better: Tell your friends and fellow students to speak up too. We can’t let these attacks on students and families continue. We deserve better.