HEARING RECAP: Owens Exposes Higher Ed’s “Best Kept Secret” on College Costs

<p><strong>WASHINGTON</strong> — Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chair Burgess Owens (UT-04) led a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9P6XrM3HeY&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fedworkforce.house.gov%2F">hearing</a> on deceptive pricing practices in higher education and reforms to bring honesty and transparency to students and families. </p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-4068" height="576" src="https://d12t4t5x3vyizu.cloudfront.net/owens.house.gov/uploads/2025/09/teacher-floor-speech-1024x576.png" width="1024" /></figure>

<p class="has-text-align-center"><em>Click </em><a href="https://x.com/RepBurgessOwens/status/1967964292126523826"><em>here</em></a><em> or above to watch.</em></p>

<p class="has-text-align-left"><br />Rep. Owens opened the hearing by stressing the urgent need for clarity in college pricing and the impact hidden costs have on students, families, and taxpayers.</p>

<p><strong>Rep. Owens:</strong> <em>“The process of determining the true cost of college is clouded in mystery. Colleges and universities routinely advertise prices that bear little resemblance to what families ultimately will pay. … Yet when it comes to college degrees, an investment that can rival or exceed the cost of a home, students are left in the dark. … Students and families deserve honesty and transparency.”</em></p>

<p class="has-text-align-left">Rep. Owens questioned <strong>Lee S. Wishing III, Vice President for Student Recruitment and Chief Marketing Officer at Grove City College</strong>, about tuition discounting practices, which Wishing described as higher education’s “best kept open secret.”</p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="" class="wp-image-4069" height="576" src="https://d12t4t5x3vyizu.cloudfront.net/owens.house.gov/uploads/2025/09/Committee-SC-1-03.11.25-2-1024x576.png" width="1024" /></figure>

<p class="has-text-align-center"><em>Click </em><a href="https://x.com/RepBurgessOwens/status/1967977841133490406"><em>here</em></a><em> or above to watch.</em></p>

<p class="has-text-align-left"><strong>Mr. Wishing:</strong><em> “It’s just remarkable to see how the whole industry knows this is happening. … Everybody knows, but the students and the parents. And we have a heck of a time cutting through that morass of misinformation to help students understand what’s going on.”</em></p>

<p class="has-text-align-left"><br />Rep. Owens also pressed <strong>Justin Draeger, Senior Vice President for Affordability at Strada Education Foundation</strong>, on which students are most harmed by unclear pricing systems.</p>

<p class="has-text-align-left"><br /><strong>Mr. Draeger: </strong><em>“Three groups stand out. First are low-income and first-generation students, they’re the least likely to have family experience to help them navigate a really complex system. The second are adult learners, they’re debt averse and want to understand the ROI the most. And third are middle-income families, who earn too much to qualify for maximum need-based aid but don’t make enough to pay the sticker price. … The bottom line is when students don’t understand the price, the most vulnerable ones are the ones who pay the highest cost, not just in dollars, but in lost opportunity.”</em></p>

<p class="has-text-align-left"><br />Rep. Owens closed by emphasizing the importance of shedding light on these practices: <em>“This is [an] extremely important conversation, and for many of us to understand some of what’s happening behind the curtains is very, very enlightening to say the least.”</em></p>

<p class="has-text-align-left"><br />The full hearing is available to watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9P6XrM3HeY&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fedworkforce.house.gov%2F">here</a>. </p>

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<p>The post <a href="https://owens.house.gov/posts/hearing-recap-owens-exposes-higher-eds-best-kept-secret-on-college-costs">HEARING RECAP: Owens Exposes Higher Ed’s “Best Kept Secret” on College Costs</a> appeared first on <a href="https://owens.house.gov">Burgess Owens</a>.</p>