Chris Moody, Ed.D., ACPA’s Executive Director, spoke in a public virtual hearing before the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education on 1 May 2025. The purpose of the hearing was to provide feedback on ways to streamline higher education regulations and federal assistance programs to create efficiencies for students, institutions, and key stakeholders, as well as ideas to improve the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Repayment plan, and the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan. His full testimony is below.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today about a matter at the very heart of ACPA’s mission – ensuring that every student, regardless of their background and previous opportunities, has access to higher education through robust student financial assistance programs. In ACPA, our work centers affordability, accessibility, and the incredible transformational power of education. We know that financial support is not just about dollars and cents – it’s about opening doors. It’s about allowing students to imagine and pursue futures that would otherwise be out of reach.
Programs like Pell Grants, TRIO, GEAR UP, the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need, and public service loan forgiveness are not optional – they are essential. These initiatives ensure that talented individuals from all walks of life have the chance to enroll, persist, and thrive in college. Research repeatedly shows that not all K-12 schools receive equal funding and resources, with districts serving higher proportions of low-income and minority students often receiving fewer resources.
This resource inequity is evident in areas like per-student spending, student-teacher ratios, class sizes, teacher experience, and teacher qualifications. Without continuing to support college impact programs, our nation’s future workforce and leadership will suffer from a diminishing supply of talent. By 2033, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 4.6 million new jobs will require a postsecondary credential. To meet that demand, we must invest in students today.
College graduates don’t just earn more over their lifetime – they also contribute more. They are more likely to be employed, to innovate, and even to pay it forward, often by returning to serve their local communities. This is especially true when we talk about public service and public loan forgiveness programs. These pathways empower graduates to pursue careers in education, healthcare, social work, and beyond – careers that are essential to the well-being of our society, but that often come with lower salaries. Without financial assistance, many of these students would feel forced into private sector jobs just to make ends meet, leaving local communities continually under-resourced and unsupported.
So today, I want to remind us: Access to financial assistance is access to opportunity for individuals, for families, and for societies. I urge us to continue investing in education and in financial access programs connected to creating opportunities for pursuing higher education. I ask that we never forget that when we remove financial barriers, we don’t just support individual students and their families – we strengthen local communities as well as our national economy. Thank you for your time and consideration.
