Kilili pushes college access for CNMI, A. Samoa students

WASHINGTON, D.C.—During a committee drafting session on the Higher Education Act yesterday, Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Ind-MP) proposed creating a federal program to help pay for the last two years of college for graduates of Northern Marianas College or American Samoa Community College.

Sablan made the case that the Northern Marianas and American Samoa are the only U.S. jurisdictions without a four-year public college, where students may complete a baccalaureate degree. He compared his proposal to the program for students from the District of Columbia, who receive federal assistance to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities anywhere in the United States.

Two Republicans voted with all Democrats on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, but the Sablan amendment was narrowly defeated, 19-20.

“Education continues to be my No. 1 priority in Congress,” Sablan said. “And the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act now underway provides me the opportunity to help make college more affordable for students from the Marianas.”

Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Ind-MP) wants to use federal funds to make up the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for graduates of Northern Marianas College going on to attend a four-year public university elsewhere in the United States. His proposal was voted down yesterday by the Republican majority during work on the Higher Education Act by the Education and the Workforce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. (Contributed Photo)

“I want to thank my Republican friends, Duncan Hunter of California and Dr. Phil Roe of Tennessee, for voting with me on my amendment. Even though we were not successful in committee, we can still bring this up again in the Rules Committee and when the bill comes to the floor for a vote.”

The Higher Education Act was last reauthorized in 2008, before Sablan was elected to Congress.

He had been working in the run-up to yesterday’s session to have his four-year college proposal incorporated into the Republican base bill. But, even though his proposal would have also helped American Samoan students, represented in Congress by Republican Amata Aumua Coleman Radewagen (R-AS), the Republican-led committee was unwilling to add a new program and new costs.

So Sablan offered his plan as an amendment yesterday. “Nonresident students spend an average of $14,480 more per year in out-of-state tuition and fees than their resident peers at public four-year colleges, according to the College Board,” Sablan explained.

“Students in the Marianas and American Samoa wanting to attend a four-year school after getting their community college degree not only face the cost of nonresident tuition, but also the significant expense of travel. The Marianas are over 3,700 miles from the nearest state, Hawaii—a $1,100 one-way trip by plane.”

Democratic member Donald Norcross of New Jersey compared the situation for island students to the “food deserts” that people in some urban areas face. “A four-year college desert,” he called it. “The fact that there is little, if any, opportunity to pursue within a reasonable cost a quality education, four-year program… I think [Sablan’s proposal] is a cost-effective, good idea.”

Also supporting the Sablan amendment were the committee’s ranking member, Bobby Scott of Virginia, and Rep. Mark Takano (D-California).

“For far too long our country has neglected and marginalized the needs of its Pacific islands and territories on an array of policy issues,” Takano told the committee. “And as the Education Task Force chair for the Congressional Asian-Pacific American Caucus, I know that education is no exception. Today, 43 percent of all native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders only have a high school diploma or less.”

Sablan was successful at amending the federal funding formula for elementary and secondary education on the islands in December 2015. That formula distributes money every year to schools with students from low-income families. This year the CNMI Public School System received approximately $4.5 million over and above its usual grant as a result of Sablan’s amendment.

Sablan was also an original cosponsor of the 2009 legislation that made more Marianas students eligible for Pell grants to attend college, and increased the dollar amount of the annual Pell grant. As a result, most U.S. students are now able to attend the Northern Marianas College for free.

Getting help for Marianas students who want to go beyond NMC has long been a goal of the Marianas delegate. In both the 111th and 112th congresses, he introduced legislation similar to the amendment he offered yesterday to the Higher Education Act. (PR)