Education in the Crosshairs III: What Dismantling the Department of Education Means for Students; Remarks by James Lamar Carroll IV

Good afternoon.

Ranking Member Scott and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today.

My name is James Lamar Carroll IV. I am a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I serve

as Vice President of the Student Government Association and President of the UMass Amherst NAACP. I am also a member of the Army National Guard and a Summer Fellow with the United States Student Association. USSA is the country’s oldest and largest student run organization representing 2.7 million students across the country who believe Education is a Right. 

Whether I am wearing the uniform of my country, representing students on my campus, or organizing with student leaders across the nation, my commitment is the same, I love to serve. I believe service means leaving the next generation with more opportunity than the generation before it.

That is why I am here today.

I believe that in the promise that higher education should be within reach for every student willing to pursue it.

I am a first-generation Black college student. I come from a low-income family. And Pell Grants, federal financial aid, and federal student loans made it possible for me to attend college. Without those public investments, I would not be sitting before this Committee today.

This summer, I experienced another reminder of how fragile my access to education can be. I was not selected in my university's housing lottery, forcing me to find off-campus housing and take on another job just to afford rent for my senior year. Instead of focusing on preparing for graduation, serving my fellow students, and fulfilling my responsibilities in the National Guard, I had to spend my summer figuring out how I was going to keep a roof over my head.

My story isn't unique.

Students across this country are balancing tuition, rent, groceries, transportation, child care, textbooks, and work, all while trying to earn a degree. The financial pressures facing students are already enormous.

That is why the changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are so scary.

This law makes paying for college more expensive and more risky. It eliminates the Graduate PLUS loan program and places new caps on federal borrowing changes that will force more students and families into the private student loan market where loans are often more expensive and come with fewer protections. 

It also reduces repayment options for future borrowers and makes repaying student loan debt even MORE expensive.

Millions across the country have already begun to feel the life changing impact of these  technical policy changes. 

When Congress eliminates Graduate PLUS loans, that is not simply a line in a bill. It means a student who dreams of becoming a doctor, social worker, professor, attorney, or researcher will only have two terrible choices: take out expensive private loans, or decide graduate school is no longer financially possible.

The problem facing students is not that too many people have access to federal student loans. The problem is that college has become too expensive in the first place.

But limiting access to federal aid does not lower the price of college. It only changes who can afford to go, and shifts more costs and more risk onto students and their families.

Students expect organizations like USSA to help them navigate this moment. Yet too often, the answers remain unclear, not because students aren't paying attention, but because implementation has been confusing, guidance continues to evolve, and students are being asked to make life-changing financial decisions without the certainty they deserve.

Finally, education is not just about preparing people for jobs. It is about preparing people for citizenship.

As someone who has chosen to serve this country in uniform, I believe a strong democracy depends on an educated people. Higher education is not simply an investment in an individual, it is one of our nation's greatest investments in future generations

My generation is asking for the same promise that generations before us believed in, that if you have the talent, the determination, and the willingness to work hard, higher education should be within reach.

I was given the opportunity to pursue higher education because our country invested in students like me. My hope is that the students who come after me will be able to say the same.

Thank you again.