In hopes of relieving the burdensome load of college costs, both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Legislature have recently released clashing bills promising to lighten the fiscal load of a college education.

Republican Congressman Howard P. (Buck) McKeon introduced the Affordability in Higher Education Act Oct. 16, while Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy introduced the College Quality, Affordability and Diversity Improvement Act of 2003 Oct. 28. Although both bills tackle the pressing issue of how students pay for college, they do so by differing methods.

While Kennedy’s bill targets scholarship and grant aid at low-income and select middle-income families, McKeon’s bill caps future tuition hikes for all students.

Senator Kennedy’s office declined to comment on the legislation, but in a written release Kennedy stated: “If [a student] works hard, graduates from high school and gets into college, we promise that cost will never be a barrier to obtaining [a student’s] college degree.”

Kennedy’s bill allots $1,500 more in college aid to middle-class families and $3,800 more to low-income families to lessen the cost of college, and increases Pell and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants by $450 and $250, respectively.

Kennedy’s bill also extends HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) scholarship credit to low-income students who do not currently receive it and eliminates annual student taxes on subsidized student loans for low-income students, a savings of about $100.

“We must do more to help qualified students attend and finish college unburdened by crushing debt,” Kennedy said in a written statement.

For students who work their way through school, Kennedy’s bill raises wage exemption from financial aid cutbacks from the current $4,000 up to $9,000. Senator Kennedy plans to fund these changes by ending banks’ student loan windfall profits.

Kennedy’s bill also expands graduate and undergraduate programs for minority students at Hispanic Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.

In contrast, Republican McKeon’s bill denies the federal government any role in deciding college costs, and instead seeks to hold individual universities accountable for the tuition they charge.

By allowing universities to choose their own price, McKeon’s bill mandates an annual report of tuition costs from each institution. Under the bill, the information collected from the annual reports will be displayed on a website, allowing families to easily compare tuition costs.

“The reports have a dual purpose,” Vartan Djihanian, press secretary for McKeon, said. “They monitor tuition increases, but they also provide parents and students with a user-friendly way of comparing tuition when deciding between schools.”

Under McKeon’s bill, when a university increases tuition by twice the rate of the consumer price index, it must submit an explanation of factors for the increase, as well as a management plan and a detailed action plan to stop the increase.

But if the university fails to correct the problem within three years, the school is sanctioned and direct aid to the institution is lost.

“The goal of the bill is to keep costs at reasonable levels, so an ultimate sanction doesn’t have to happen,” Djihanian said. “If a school violates the law under the bill, aid to the institution will be affected, such as work study and Perkins loans, but direct aid to students will remain unaffected.”

Andrew Reschovsky, University of Wisconsin professor of applied economics and public affairs, said he does not think either bill will completely solve the higher education crisis.

“The Kennedy bill seems like the lesser of two evils. It’s bad precedent for Congress to dictate to state legislatures how they should spend their money,” Reschovsky said, adding that the two bills could produce very different results at UW. “It’s unlikely the state will have more money, and under the McKeon bill, UW will be forced to raise tuition more slowly, forcing [UW] to downsize and offer fewer classes. For the Kennedy bill, if the state expands, we will spend more money and might be forced to raise taxes or cut from other programs, like K-12 education.”

However, Reschovsky said that both bills could produce negative effects.

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. The money has to come from somewhere.”