House committee OKs measure for universities and communities

YOUNGSTOWN -- The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved an amendment, co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, to provide money toward collaborative efforts between universities and their surrounding communities.
The amendment to the Graduate Opportunities in Higher Education Act allows universities and communities to apply for grant money to partnerships on issues such as economic development, community infrastructure, housing, crime prevention, health care, education, and work-force training, said Ryan of Niles, D-17th.
Money for such efforts would come from the federal Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education.
The House committee, of which Ryan is a member, not only approved the amendment Thursday, but also approved a plan to increase the education fund's annual appropriation from $30 million to $40 million.
The bill goes to the full House for consideration.
"It is inefficient, in terms of both time and taxpayer dollars, for schools and their surrounding communities not to be working together," Ryan said.
"Instead of giving a university millions to expand student housing and separately giving millions to surrounding businesses and governments to improve housing infrastructure, we can get everyone working together on a solution that solves both problems at once at less cost to the taxpayers."
The amendment was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a Republican from Holland, Mich.