U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) today spoke about the disastrous impacts of progressive ideologies on the American higher education system. The Biden administration’s decision to forgive student loans and undermine financial accountability will worsen inflation for hardworking Americans while driving the cost of tuition even higher for students. At the same time, the administration’s proposed changes to Title IX, which would force federally-funded schools to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports, would undo 50 years of progress made to level the playing field for female athletes. American students should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions and allowed to compete in free and fair competition, on and off the field.
Excerpts from the Senator’s speech can be found below, and his remarks can be viewed here.
“Beyond the subjects taught in classrooms and in textbooks, there are a lot of lessons to be learned in college. It’s an important time for the overall development of our young adults.”
“And just as colleges and universities are important to the students who attend them, they have also been, historically, an integral part of our society and development for the future. For many years, institutions of higher education were great examples of the beauty of the American experiment. They were places where free speech was not only allowed, but encouraged — and innovation and problem solving were required for success. And they created some of America’s favorite pastimes — college sports — which became a piece of our national identity and have immense benefits for the student athletes involved. American higher education became the envy of the world. Our colleges and universities produced new research, technologies, and medicines — and molded the talented minds to use these new developments to make our country a better place. But this trend is changing. Left-wing activists have fundamentally shifted higher education to become a vehicle to further their political agenda — and now they’re set on [forcing] American taxpayers to pay for the overpriced indoctrination, and taking athletic opportunities away from those who have worked so hard to compete.”
“Let’s start with the price tag associated with higher education. The cost of attending college has skyrocketed. But these institutions have done little to ensure their value has increased along with their price, the increase of tuitions, and bloated school administrations continually drive budgets and tuition bills up. President Biden recently decided to throw gasoline on this fire by attempting to use executive authority to — as he calls it — ‘forgive’ student loan debt for millions of Americans.”
“His plan will forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients who make $125,000 or less a year, and $10,000 in student loan debt for all others under the same salary cap. Think about that: a college-educated person making a six-figure salary would essentially get a $10,000 handout from hardworking Americans, the majority of whom did not go to college themselves and are struggling to provide for their families thanks to soaring inflation driven by Democrats’ reckless spending. Despite the administration’s attempts to convince the country they are focused on fighting inflation, this debt transfer scheme will do the exact opposite.”
“I’m also concerned about two additional long-term effects of this decision: One, it does nothing to fix the broken system that led to soaring costs in the first place. In fact, it will make college even more expensive…And two, it allows students and graduates to avoid the consequences of their own actions, further hindering young people from becoming independent, free thinking, responsible adults.”
“I started coaching a few years after Title IX started, and I’ve seen from the very beginning what Title IX has done for women across this country, girls, and athletes. And how it has made leaders of young girls and women who never [would have] been afforded the opportunity had Title IX not passed…”
“This fiftieth anniversary of Title IX was in June. But, this anniversary comes at an important and challenging time for female athletes. Their ability to train and compete fairly is under attack from activists and this current White House.”
“In July, the Department of Education published and proposed a rule to change how Title IX is implemented in order to better align with the administration’s progressive agenda. These proposed changes would require schools to allow… biological males to compete in women’s sports. Last week, I submitted a public comment to Secretary Cardona that clearly and strongly condemns this new proposed rule… The change to Title IX would be a monumental setback for the generations of women who have benefited from the law over the last fifty years.”
“To best prepare America’s young people to be the next generation of leaders our country needs, I am fighting back against these policies — like [dismantling] Title IX and haphazardly forgiving student debt — that encourages young adults to break the rules and ignore their responsibilities. Instead of making our colleges more expensive and less fair, Congress should be focused on reforms that get to the root of the cause.”
“Our country cannot thrive without allowing young adults to freely and fairly learn, grow, develop, and create — on and off the field. We must protect that fair playing field while encouraging college students to take responsibility for their own actions and financial decisions — something all of us here in Congress should learn to do as well.”
