Fund College Affordability to Keep Specialized Professions Within Reach

Act now to make college affordable before the workforce shortage in medicine and other specialized fields gets worse. For the 2026-27 academic year, 16 colleges, including Duke, Georgetown, NYU, and University of Chicago, carry a sticker price above $100,000. That number will keep climbing. When the path to becoming a doctor starts with a six-figure undergraduate bill, we lose talented people before they ever reach medical school. Yes, financial aid exists. Private colleges discounted tuition by an average of 57% for first-time students in 2025-26, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers. But a discount on an impossible price is still an impossible price for many families. A separate Sallie Mae study found families cover only about half of college costs through income and savings, leaving the rest to loans and grants that not everyone can access or navigate. The pipeline to specialized professions runs through affordable higher education. If the goal is a country with enough doctors, nurses, engineers, and other trained professionals, then keeping college financially out of reach is a policy failure. Support legislation that expands grant funding, strengthens public university systems, and reduces the debt burden on students pursuing high-need careers.