From: The Honorable Lloyd Doggett
Sent By:
Dan.Smith@mail.house.gov
Date: 2/2/2017

Make College Education More Affordable for Families

Cosponsor the Expand American Educational Opportunity Act

Deadline to join as original: 2pm TODAY, 2/2/2017

Current original cosponsors (63): Pelosi, Neal, Blumenauer, Brownley, Bustos, Butterfield, Cartwright, Castro, Chu, Cicilline, Cohen, Conyers, Cuellar, Cummings, DeFazio, DeLauro, Delaney, Delbene, Deutch, Ellison, Esty, Gallego, Garamendi, Hastings,
Higgins, Jeffries, EB Johnson, Hank Johnson, Kelly, Kildee, Kind, Langevin, John Larson, Barbara Lee, Levin, Lieu, Loebsack, Lynch, McCollum, McGovern, Meeks, Meng, Moore, Norton, Pallone, Pocan, Price, Roybal-Allard, Tim Ryan, Sarbanes, Schakowsky, Schiff,
Swalwell, Thompson, Titus, Torres, Watson Coleman

Dear Colleague:

Since enacted in 2009, the American Opportunity Tax Credit has helped millions of students and working families pay for college. With bipartisan support, it was made permanent in 2015. This bill would strengthen the credit and provide more support to those
who most need it. Higher education is a ticket to the middle class and a well-educated workforce is critical to our economic competitiveness. Unfortunately, it remains out of reach for too many Americans as costs continue to rise.

This bill includes important reforms to simplify the credit and make it easier to claim. It would make college more affordable to low and middle-income students by increasing the portion of the credit that is refundable, and making it work better for students
who also receive Pell Grants.

I invite you to become an original cosponsor of this legislation in the 115th Congress, which previously earned support from nearly 150 cosponsors. For more information or to cosponsor, please contact Dan Smith in my office at
Dan.Smith@mail.house.gov.

Sincerely,

Lloyd Doggett

Key provisions in the American Opportunity Tax Credit Act:

1. Maintains the size of the credit ($2500) and qualified expenses (tuition, fees, and course materials).
2. Eliminates the need for two separate credits (AOTC and LLC) by creating a bifurcated credit (one for students enrolled at least half time and one for students enrolled less than half time).
3. Changes lifetime limits from number of years claimed (4 years in current AOTC) to maximum monetary amount claimed ($15,000).
4. Increases refundability by $500 to a maximum of $1500.
5. Fixes an inconsistency in the code that currently disadvantages students who receive Pell Grants by allowing the AOTC to go towards the costs of education that the Pell Grant does not cover.

This bill has been endorsed by: American Association of Community Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, American Council on Education, Association of American Universities, Association of Community College Trustees, Association
of Public and Land-grant Universities, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, Council for Opportunity in Education, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, National Association
of College and University Business Officers, and National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities