Ron hears from Portland high school students about college applications, inequities

Ron met this week with Madison High School seniors in the wake of the college admissions scandal to hear from students who have played by all the rules in their higher education applications.

The meeting at the Northeast Portland high school came as he works on legislation that would end the tax benefit for significant donations made to colleges and universities before or during the enrollment of children from the donor’s family.

“If the wealthy want to grease the skids, they shouldn’t be able to do so at the expense of American taxpayers,” said Ron, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. “The tax code shouldn’t favor the most fortunate and perpetuate this rotten college admissions process by giving out tax breaks to parents before or during the student’s enrollment.”

The senator also heard from the Madison High students about the often-crushing debt they must take on as the children of middle-class and working-class families to afford college.

Those inequities extend, they said, to other out-of-reach expenses for many families such as SAT prep and pre-college programs.

Ron outlined other college cost proposals he’s introduced in this Congress such as his bipartisan “Student Right to Know Before You Go” bill.

That legislation would help students and their families compare schools on key criteria such as student debt levels, how much graduates can expect to earn and other critical criteria for college consumers.