Cohen Highlights Record of Making College More Affordable As President Obama Kicks Off College Bus Tour

[MEMPHIS, TN] – After President Obama announced a new agenda to fight rising college costs and keep higher education within reach for middle class families this morning, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) highlighted his work to make college more affordable for Memphians and Tennesseans. When he served in the Tennessee Senate, Congressman Cohen led the fight to create the HOPE Scholarship program and in Washington he has fought to keep student loan rates down as well as to treat private student loan debt the same as other types of private loan debt.

“I fought for nearly two decades while I was in the Tennessee State Senate to establish the Tennessee Lottery and the HOPE Scholarship program that has helped reduce college costs for hundreds of thousands of students across Tennessee,” said Congressman Cohen. “I am glad that President Obama laid out an ambitious new agenda that puts the interests of middle class families and students first to combat rising college costs. If we price our students out of a quality education, the whole country risks missing out on the contributions they could make to our economy—and that is not an acceptable risk to take.”

Before he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Cohen became known throughout the state as the “Father of the Tennessee Lottery,” after leading the referendum effort that instituted arguably the most successful education initiative in Tennessee history. Since the inception of the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship program in 2004, over $2.7 billion has gone to students continuing their education at the college level. Countless students have benefited from Congressman Cohen's tireless efforts to provide Tennesseans with access to affordable, quality, post-secondary education.