Wisely, the federal government offers tax incentives in the form of credits to help reduce the burden of college costs. Unfortunately, the credits are most effective only for families with incomes high enough to owe at least as much in taxes as they can offset with higher-education bills. As Congress considers these credits in the coming weeks, it would do well to help Americans with the most modest incomes by allowing them to get the full benefits of the credits.

Congress would do that by making the education credits refundable, which would allow families to receive from the government more than they paid in taxes, with the refundable credit matching the benefit received by wealthier families, which have paid more in taxes. The reason for doing this is simple: Countless studies show that Americans who earn college degrees go on to better-paying jobs and are much more likely to encourage their children to also earn college degrees.

The government makes back in taxes from these families many times what it would pay in refundable credits, and it avoids other costs – for subsidized health care, food stamps and other forms of assistance – that are more likely to be given to people who do not earn college degrees. Expanding access to college is good for the individual, helpful for that individual’s family, strengthens the economy and is a sound investment for the nation’s treasury.

There are better means than refundable tax credits to allow college to become available by making it more affordable or to lower the burden of those who graduate with substantial debt. But Congress isn’t likely to enact the broad social programs needed to make going to the first year of college as natural as attending the last year of high school. So supporters of lowering the barrier to college pick away at many small advances, and tax refundability is one of them.

Representatives from more than a dozen Maine organizations recently wrote to Sen. Olympia Snowe pointing out that, “even after taking into account Pell Grants, school-based grants, subsidized loans and other forms of aid, millions of low-income students and their families are thousands of dollars short of what’s needed to afford college.”

Earlier this spring, New York Sen. Charles Schumer introduced a bill that would simplify the credit process by, for instance, combining the current Lifetime Learning and HOPE credits into one and expanding the credit to both graduate school and community colleges. The legislation is an excellent opportunity to add a refundability component, as has been proposed in the House, though that bill limits the refundable portion to 50 percent.

No federal government entity doubts the value of earning a college degree, and none dismisses the barrier of cost for those with middle or lower-class incomes. Returning a portion of those costs through a refundable credit is one small way for Washington to let its actions match its rhetoric.