A Quote by Alex Padilla

As a first-generation college student, I know the hurdles that far too many people face in accessing quality, affordable higher education. — © Alex Padilla
As a first-generation college student, I know the hurdles that far too many people face in accessing quality, affordable higher education.
In the past, there has been a stigma surrounding community colleges, where they were seen as a less viable option because they are not four-year universities. I know differently and so do the millions of people across the country who have received an affordable, quality higher education at community college.
As the first member of my immediate family to graduate from college, making higher education more affordable and accessible is a top priority of mine.
Access to high-quality education is way too limited. The United States has the world's most admirable higher education system, and yet it is very restrictive. It's so hard to get into. I never got into it as a student.
The Millennial Generation is being crushed by soaring college costs and student loan debt, and as lawmakers, we must find solutions to address affordability and flexibility in higher education.
Far too many of our children today, our students, need remedial education. We have been lying to them. They're not really ready for college. That's not higher education's fault. That's our fault K-12.
As a first-generation college student who worked my way through community college on to Cornell Law, having health insurance was not a top priority when I was starting out. I was buried in student loan debt and worried about simply making ends meet.
Student debt is crushing the lives of millions of Americans. How does it happen that we can get a home mortgage or purchase a car with interest rates half of that being paid for student loans? We must make higher education affordable for all. We must substantially lower interest rates on student loans. This must be a national priority.
Fifty years ago, great schools like the University of California and the City University of New York - as well as many state colleges - were tuition free. Today college is unaffordable for many working class families. For the sake of our economy and millions of Americans, we must make higher education more affordable.
I see a lot of people who have amazing stories but have been told that their work, their lives, and their stories and not the stuff of literature. Or they're first-generation college student, first-generation American, and their family just doesn't understand the art world. They have a lot of guilt. "We came all the way from [wherever] so you could do this?" Those people may not be showing the moxie, but that's because they don't even know what's possible. So I want to jump in and say, "Actually, your story is amazing, and I believe in you.".
I was a first-generation college student. This was supposed to be the ticket to prosperity. But it wasn't. I left college with a mountain of debt and no practical skills.
If lenders are forced to scale back student lending because private student loans are subject to bankruptcy discharge, many students will be denied access to higher education.
As a first-generation American, my parents expected that I would go on to have pretty tactical higher-education-type jobs - doctor, lawyer, engineer. Those were the three options. My dad was not at all open to the idea that there would not be a higher education in my future.
Despite the evidence that we already have too many students in higher education, the hot new idea among the political class is to double down by pushing for 'free college tuition.' The problem with the 'free college' idea is, however, not merely financial. It also reinforces the myth that college is appropriate or even possible for all students.
Too many high-school graduates are reflexively going to college as it is, without a clue what they are doing there or how to take advantage of higher education.
I was never an A student. I never really liked going to school like many of my friends. There were just too many students and too competitive. We were sort of forced into studying to go to college. It was like if we didn't go to college, society looked at us as failures. We didn't know what to do with the situation.
By making college more affordable for all and more accessible for minority students, the first new higher education authorizing legislation in a decade will help strengthen our nation and America's middle class, and spur a new age of innovation and ingenuity in our country.
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