{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2614", "Sen. Franken Tackles College Affordability with New Bill to Rein in Rising Textbook Costs", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Al Franken", "F000457", "franken.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) worked to tackle college affordability with the introduction of his bill to cut the costs of textbooks and a push to pass his bipartisan legislation that would help students understand exactly what college will cost before committing to a school. Sen. Franken introduced the Affordable College Textbook Act today with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to combat the rising expense of textbooks and supplies, which cost the average Minnesota student over $1,400 a year\u2014$200 more than the national average. Sen. Franken's bill would expand the use of open access textbooks on college campuses, providing cheaper alternatives to expensive traditional textbooks and thereby lowering the overall cost of going to college. Read more about the Affordable College Textbook Act here.  \"In the fight to make college more affordable and accessible for Minnesota families, we can't overlook the rising costs of textbooks,\" said Sen. Franken. \"I'm proud to introduce this bill because it will help provide cheaper alternatives to traditional textbooks and keep more money in students' pockets, where it belongs.\"\nLast year, the University of Minnesota created a new Open Academics Textbook catalog to help faculty and students find more affordable textbook options. The University of Minnesota's open access textbook initiative is the kind of program that could benefit from Sen. Franken's bill.  Also today, Sen. Franken and his colleagues on the Senate Education Committee held their third hearing on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, focusing on simplifying the financial aid process. During the hearing several witnesses confirmed that Sen. Franken's Understanding the True Cost of College Act\u2014which would create a universal financial aid form so students can make apples to apples comparisons of the costs of attending different schools\u2014was necessary and would increase students' access to higher education.  \"Students in Minnesota graduate with the third highest average debt in the nation\u2014nearly $30,000 each\u2014and part of the problem is that they often don't have a clear picture of how much their education is going to actually cost them,\" said Sen. Franken. \"Today's hearing reemphasized the need to pass my bill to help students make apples to apples cost comparisons when deciding what school to attend.\" Sen. Franken has long been a leader in helping consumers understand their debts and finances, especially when it comes to making college more affordable for Minnesota students and their families. He's hosted a series of College Affordability Roundtables around Minnesota to hear directly from students, families, and higher education officials on what can be done to improve higher education. And for the past two years, he's sent his staff out into communities statewide to hold \"College Affordability Resource Nights.\"  Sen. Franken also cosponsored the Smarter Borrowing Act, which would improve the timing and quality of entrance and exit loan counseling so that students are better prepared to avoid taking on burdensome debt. He's also a cosponsor of the Know Before You Owe Act, which places obligations on higher education institutions to inform students of their federal student loan eligibility before they take on private student loans. Parts of that legislation were included in Sen. Franken's universal financial aid award letter bill. Additionally, Sen. Franken is the author of the Accelerated Learning Act\u2014which was incorporated into the Senate bill to replace the so-called \"No Child Left Behind\" law\u2014that would help make college affordable by expanding access to accelerated learning models like AP, IB, dual enrollment, and early college high schools for low-income students. This would allow students to get college credit while in high school and earn their college degree more quickly.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2614"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5745388809591532, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}