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Tom Reed sponsored a series of bills aimed at bringing the cost of college down, in part by forcing colleges to be more transparent. "Having over $100,000 in student loans when we graduated from school, we understand the burden so many kids and families are carrying today from too high college costs," said Reed. "It is simply unfair to allow another generation to labor under this kind of debt."

Reed continues to revise his Reducing Excessive Debt and Unfair Costs of Education (REDUCE) act, which requires colleges with endowments larger than $1 billion to distribute a portion of the profits earned from this money as tuition relief for students from working middle class families. If colleges fail to offer this amount of financial aid, colleges will face heavy tax penalties, up to and including losing their tax exempt status.

Following Reed's initial legislative push into this issue, the House Ways and Means Committee also began to examine the use of tax-free endowment funds, citing concerns the funds were not being used directly for educational purposes, but rather for extravagant campus enhancements, like state-of-the-art gyms, rock walls, and even a lazy river.

"It is a disservice to the next generation of students that colleges continue to stock pile large sums of money that are tax exempt, and for which donors receive tax deductions, while tuition costs continue to rise. We need to shed some sunshine on how endowments are being used and really get to the bottom of why the cost of college continues to skyrocket."

In conjunction with the REDUCE act, Reed also sponsored a bill which would create a grant program from existing federal education funds to provide additional opportunities for colleges to develop and expand dual enrollment programs.  Dual and concurrent enrollment programs allow high school students to save on the cost of college by acquiring college credits before entering college full-time.

Reed also recently co-sponsored the Flexible Pell Grant for 21st Century Students Act, which would allow students who are learning at an accelerated rate in college to draw additional Pell Grant funding.  The move would ultimately allow students to finish college faster and pay less for education.

"There is no silver bullet for controlling college costs, but by working together and bringing sunshine to this issue, we can make sure students and their families are being treated fairly in long run.  It's just the right thing to do," Reed concluded.

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