WXCI Talks with US Senator Chris Murphy about rising college costs
(Danbury, CT – December 4, 2013) WXCI NEWS UPDATE: In a telephone conference call this morning to college and university media reporters, US Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) explained his concerns about a growing number of students being unable to pay for their college education, calling this “The middle-class issue of this generation.”
WXCI-FM, the campus radio station at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, participated in that conference call. WXCI’s Director of News and Public Affairs, Steve Colon, was an active participant during the call.
Colon said the senator went on to say that “tuition rates are outpacing inflation rates” and “far too many students aren’t getting the value they deserve.” Colon said Murphy made it clear his statements referred primarily to for-profit colleges who have a high number of students defaulting on their loans, as opposed to non-profit colleges. The senator also mentioned that he is “one of the few members of congress still paying back my student loans”, so he has a personal connection to this issue.
Murphy said “the typical college student takes on average 6 years to get their undergraduate degree” while “those getting graduate degrees take too long to achieve gainful employment in their chosen fields.”
Senator Murphy, along with fellow US Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), will shortly be co-sponsoring a bill to promote what he called “competency-based degrees” to accelerate the process of getting degrees for those with life and/or field experience in a specific area.
Those asking questions to Murphy during the 20-minute conference call, in addition to Colon, were student reporters from media outlets at The University of Connecticut, Wesleyan University and Yale University.
