With good reason, there’s a lot of anxiety on college campuses today about the cost of education.

In Iowa and around the country, colleges and universities have had to offset tightened purse strings with tuition increases.

Since the 2001—02 school year, the average in-state undergraduate tuition rate in Iowa rose 43 percent at the three state universities.

This year Congress will renew the Higher Education Act of 1965. During the last four decades, the federal government has promoted affordable access to higher education through low-interest federal loans, scholarships and grants.

More recently, federal tax breaks were enacted to enhance savings opportunities and increase charitable contributions to institutions of higher learning.

With more than $60 billion in guaranteed student loans, government-sponsored scholarships and grant assistance, federal tax dollars are at work to help Americans across the economic spectrum gain a college education.

Even so, the double-digit percentage increases in tuition along with increased competition for federal student aid has led to sticker shock for many individuals and families with pinched household budgets.

As chairman of the U.S. SenateFinance Committee, I’ve been using my leadership position to address this problem.

During renewal of the Higher Education Act this year, I’m working to see the pro-education tax breaks I’ve championed in Washington become a permanent part of the tax code.

These include incentives to help more students pay for college, tax breaks for parents that save money for their child’s education and help for graduates repaying their student loans as they begin life in the workforce.

Here’s a more detailed description of those items:

1. College tuition deduction: This increases deductibility for college tuition up in $4,000 in 2004/2005 for taxpayers with an Average Gross Income (AGI) of $65,000 for singles and $130,000 for couples, and allows taxpayers with an AGI of $80,000 to $160,000 to take a maximum deduction of $2,000.

It expires Dec. 31, 2005.

2. Student loan interest deduction: This repeals the five-year limit on deductibility of interest paid on qualified education loan and increases the income phase-out range from an AGI of $50,000 to $65,000 for single taxpayers and $100,000 to $130,000 for joint filers.

It expires Dec. 31, 2010.

3. Employer-provided education assistance: This excludes from taxable income employer-sponsored education benefits for both undergraduate and graduate school.

It expires Dec. 31, 2010.

4. Education IRAs: This increases contribution limits from $500 to $2,000; sets a new income phase-out range for an AGI of $95,000 to $110,000 for singles and $190,000 to $220,000 for joint filers; allows contributions beyond age 18 for special needs beneficiaries, and makes distributions tax-free as long as money is not used for the same educational expenses for which a tax credit is claimed with the HOPE or Lifetime Learning Credit.

It expires Dec. 31, 2010.

6. National Service/Armed Forces scholarship awards: This makes educational awards eligible for tax-free treatment.

It expires Dec. 31, 2010.

7. Section 529 Plans. This expands pre-paid tuition programs to include private or independent colleges/universities; excludes distributions from taxable income to the student, and allows roll-overs from state systems or private plans for the same beneficiary.

So far, nine Iowa colleges and universities have joined more than 200 schools nationwide to launch a 529 program.

It expires Dec. 31, 2010.

In addition to making these tax incentives permanent law, private need and merit-based scholarships and grants also go a long way to help make higher education a reality for many students.

I’d like to see even more incentives adopted to trigger substantially more resources from the private sector earmarked for higher learning institutions, from corporations to foundations, community organizations and individual donors.

Making college more affordable is a good investment for America’s future.