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RedditIt's no secret that higher education is becoming too expensive for many middle-class families to bear. Today's New York Post breaks down the cost of one year at New York University. The total? A shocking $54,441!
Meanwhile, as USA Today recently reported, "Increases of at least five percent to six percent -- and in many cases higher -- are expected at public universities as university administrators struggle to maintain quality education amid state budget cuts."
Since its inception in 1965 as part of the Higher Education Act, the Pell Grant program has been the primary means to allow lower-income students to go to college. More than 5.1 million students benefited from the program during the 2006-07 school year. The problem with Pell Grants, as Pedro de la Torre details at Campus Progress, is that the program, by law, must rely on the annual budgeting and appropriations process for funding, which means that award levels often fail to keep place with inflation and/or college costs. The result has been a steep decline in the purchasing power of the grant. In 1976 the maximum Pell Grant covered 72 percent of the average cost of attendance at a public four-year college. By 2006 this figure had fallen to a paltry 33 percent. And since the recession, the value have the grants have been plummeting even further.
In response, as part of his 2010 federal budget proposal, President Obama has proposed a massive overhaul to the college financial aid system which includes a huge expansion and reform of the Pell Grant program. In addition to Pell Grants, according to a smart article in Business Week, the stimulus package will replace the Hope Scholarship tax credit with the more generous American Opportunity Tax Credit for tax years 2009 and 2010; will provide an additional $200 million in funding for the federal work-study program, which provides part-time jobs for students, and will allow parents to make tax-free withdrawals from 529 college savings plan to finance the purchase of a student's computer.
As Lindsey Gerdes noted in the Business Week piece, the amounts might seem small, "but for many low- and moderate-income families, the more generous aid provisions and eligibility changes might make the difference between an affordable college education and one that is tantalizingly out of reach." Moreover, the consequences can be far-reaching. "A slightly larger Pell Grant combined with a bigger tax credit could be just enough to avoid the need for a private student loan--and the difference between graduating with high-interest debt, or no debt at all."
Our friends at Campus Progress have created a dramatic illustration of how students from each state would benefit from Obama's bold expansion of financial aid with this nifty interactive map. Data for the project was taken from Obama's Budget, Supporting Students, not Banks, a report by the Institute for America's Future and the US Public Interest Research Group.
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Peter Rothberg
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Another lib dream wish which will only further bankrupt a near bankrupt nation.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 2:09pm
"How will the budget affect students in your state?"
well, pasta will be more expensive...
Posted by frosty zoom at 04/30/2009 @ 2:14pm
Sooner or later we're all going to recognize that there are consequences for placing higher education further and further out of the economic reach of the average person.
Posted by syfriendly at 04/30/2009 @ 2:25pm
Do it the way many of us did;
go to 2 years of community college 1st for your lower level requirements
Work- I worked 40-70 hrs per week while going to college and raising my first 2 sons.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 2:28pm
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 2:28pm | ignore this person | warn this person
I went that route myself. And I still have loans to pay today. You didn't have a need for loans. The students of day easily leave college 60K in debt -- and part of the requirement for any financial aid whatsoever including those loans is "work study" which means they have the jobs on top of school -- and this situation is ridiculous.
Sooner or later public education has to be funded with something other than 50-100 thousand dollars of interest-bearing debt on one's future earnings, not just for the sake of the individual, but for the sake of all of us together.
Time to grow up.
Posted by syfriendly at 04/30/2009 @ 2:35pm
I went that route myself. And I still have loans to pay today. You didn't have a need for loans. The students of day easily leave college 60K in debt -- and part of the requirement for any financial aid whatsoever including those loans is "work study" which means they have the jobs on top of school -- and this situation is ridiculous.
Sooner or later public education has to be funded with something other than 50-100 thousand dollars of interest-bearing debt on one's future earnings, not just for the sake of the individual, but for the sake of all of us together.
Time to grow up.
Posted by syfriendly at 04/30/2009 @ 2:35pm
Well, my oldest son graduated suma cum laude 4 years ago with multiple degrees. His employer paid his tuition.
I have a sister-in-law that just graduated 2 weeks ago with a Masters and her employer paid the tuition.
there are many ways for those who really want to succeed.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 2:39pm
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 2:39pm | ignore this person | warn this person
So, by your reasoning then, anybody whose family pays for school obviously never demonstrated any "real wish to succeed".
This has gotten silly.
Posted by syfriendly at 04/30/2009 @ 3:46pm
Did I miss the part in the article calling for a reduction of fees as well as outrageous Administrator and Professor salaries and housing costs across the board at all american universities?
$54,441 per yr at ultra-liberal NYU. Would be enlightening to see that cost breakdown and justification.
What a scam. At least the books aren't a rip-off. Wait a sec...
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/30/2009 @ 4:11pm
The system is designed to have students enter the workforce already in debt to the banks. It is all part of the 21st century feudalism that we can look forward to under our collectivist new world order.
Liberals are constantly saying how americans need to learn how to live with less. What makes you think that educational opportunities are exempt from your misguided logic?
The marquee college game is a scam.
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/30/2009 @ 4:41pm
Isn't it odd that colleges and universities in the US are hotbeds of liberal thought and dogma? No wonder Peter doen't seem to even consider a look at the cost structure. He wants just more taxpayer support funneled into the brainwashing machines.
Such is our reality.
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/30/2009 @ 4:45pm
So, by your reasoning then, anybody whose family pays for school obviously never demonstrated any "real wish to succeed".
This has gotten silly.
Posted by syfriendly at 04/30/2009 @ 3:46pm
Where did I say that? I don't believe that.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 5:48pm
Sorry, Anti, but this is one of the non-negotiables in my vision of an America of egalitarian opportunity (results are on you).
Education benefits all of us and Pell grants are a teeny portion of the monster budget. Wouldn't you be satisfied with some really drastic means testing?
Posted by snowball666 at 04/30/2009 @ 4:01pm
I think I've made it pretty clear that I don't believe that life has to be guaranteed to be fair.
the founders view of liberty was that govt should not be a hinderance to the pursuit of happiness. That does not mean that govt is supposed to be the enabler.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 5:51pm
Do it the way many of us did;
go to 2 years of community college 1st for your lower level requirements
Work- I worked 40-70 hrs per week while going to college and raising my first 2 sons.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 2:28pm
Uhhh LVL. I would like to know where a non-college educated person can make more than 54k a year? You CAN'T work your way through college anymore. It's too expensive. It has outstripped the ability to work through it.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/30/2009 @ 6:17pm
there are many ways for those who really want to succeed.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 2:39pm
This is rare. It doesn't happen very often. I have friends who have graduated from MIT at the top of their class who's employers didn't pay their tuition. You are just so deadset on believe your narrow sensibilities that you don't step back and look at reality. college can cost 200k depending on where you go. Most college students won't see 200k until they are well out of college. Loans are the only method of getting money and you will pay them for the rest of your life.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/30/2009 @ 6:19pm
"Liberals are constantly saying how americans need to learn how to live with less. What makes you think that educational opportunities are exempt from your misguided logic?"
Because nowadays in order to get a decent job you have to have an education and it's conservatives who say Americans should learn to live with less not liberals.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/30/2009 @ 6:24pm
"it's conservatives who say Americans should learn to live with less not liberals."
Well, CC, I always appreciate your thoughts, but the idea that conservatives rather than liberals are suggesting we live with less is just wrong. But I think you are just kidding.
Living with less is a hallmark of the environmental movement, which I would hardly characterize as conservative. Or am I missing the Rush Limbaugh monologue from his G6 on how we should all switch to smaller electric cars or public transportation, use less paper products (especially toilet paper per that known conservative, Sheryl Crow) don't use bottled water, eat less meat and only carry reusable grocery bags, etc, etc, etc?
It's cool. The way I see it, college educations, as I said earlier, are gamed to require debt. Debt is how our freedoms are kept in check. Our entire money system is based on debt.
None of us really work for our employer... We work for the banks. This is the system that has evolved since 1913. Can you just consider that for a minute? Can you consider that our "freedom" is actually an illusion?
Too bad no one will learn that in today's universities.
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/30/2009 @ 6:37pm
Uhhh LVL. I would like to know where a non-college educated person can make more than 54k a year? You CAN'T work your way through college anymore. It's too expensive. It has outstripped the ability to work through it.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/30/2009 @ 6:17pm
You're kidding?
The list is too extensive to bother with.
Most of the millionaires I know have no college education.
How many plumbers do you think have a degree?
My youngest is a fireman in his 4th year with Oakland making nearly 200k per year.
A good hot dog cart business makes about $60k profit per year.
Most of the insurance sales people I know do not have a degree (especially if they've been in the industry more than 10 years).
I could list 100s upon 100s more that I know.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 6:57pm
You're kidding?
The list is too extensive to bother with.
Most of the millionaires I know have no college education.
How many plumbers do you think have a degree?
My youngest is a fireman in his 4th year with Oakland making nearly 200k per year.
A good hot dog cart business makes about $60k profit per year.
Most of the insurance sales people I know do not have a degree (especially if they've been in the industry more than 10 years).
I could list 100s upon 100s more that I know.
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 6:57pm
Don't you have to have a college education to be a firefighter? And all of the plans you are talking about, require money to start up or some sort of education. Plumbing still needs you to either apprentice or go to a trade school. I am talking about working a job that ALSO allows you time to go to school. You can be a plumber but being a plumber is a time intensive job. Owning your own hotdog cart is great if you live in a city where hotdog carts are useful, in LA we have Mexican fruit carts. But even still owning your own hotdog cart would probably not leave you much time for school.
I know you seem to think, oh it's simple you just do this, but the world is changing. Now if you want to succeed you almost HAVE to have a college education. You can open a small buisness and do it that way but if you come from a family with no money and you don't have a real credit history who is going to loan you the money to start it? Most people aren't creative enough to just invent something groundbreaking. So what does that leave? Get an education. Problem is no one can afford it anymore.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/30/2009 @ 7:32pm
Peter, one reason Pell Grants fail to keep pace is because Board of Regents across the nation keep raising the tutition rates.
And a lot of that money goes towards paying those huge salaries to Athletic Directors, Football/Basketball coaches, McGraw-Hill and Houghton (textbooks) contracts.
Posted by ACook at 04/30/2009 @ 8:00pm
uh, mr. obama...
here's one more:
Supreme Court Justice Souter To Retire
by Nina Totenberg
NPR.org, April 30, 2009 · NPR has learned that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term.
Posted by frosty zoom at 04/30/2009 @ 10:34pm
Posted by antisocialist at 04/30/2009 @ 5:51pm
So, you opposed the GI Bill of Rights education grants, right?
Posted by Mask at 05/01/2009 @ 08:24am
So, you opposed the GI Bill of Rights education grants, right?
Posted by Mask at 05/01/2009 @ 08:24am
I've answered this before;
The GI Bill represented a contract agreement between the US and citizens who enter the military. It served as part of our compensation agreement.
I think adding deferred compensation (the GI Bill) while working for the approximately 22 cents per hour I was earning in 1967 in the military was a good agreement. It was my choice to enter that contract agreement with the govt.
And I might add, a good value to the govt since I and millions of others were putting our lives on the line in exchange for that compensation.
That hardly equates to a loan guarantee or even subsidized or free education that the left try and equate it to.
Posted by antisocialist at 05/01/2009 @ 2:45pm
Yes, you do definitely have to have an education (a beyond K-12 one, that is) to be a plumber, HVAC guy, electronics tech, etc.
We can quibble about whether "college" is needed by everybody, and if by that it is understood to signify "4-year bachelor's programs", it's not. But nonetheless you do need post-high school education to be a skilled tradesman.
Maybe we need to switch the conversation over to whether high school, as we experience it, may be obsolete?
Posted by schnellerheinz at 05/01/2009 @ 4:12pm
Some very worthy kids put their lives on the line nowadays just getting through high school, as any native Detroiter from this post-industrial, "BladeRunner" environment here can tell you.
And they didn't sign up for this, either.
They deserve a deal, too. Start spending some money on kids over here.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 05/01/2009 @ 4:18pm
Anti: You have a firefighter son making 200k a year? I guess the government is ok for some people. The taxpayers of Oakland are supporting your son's exorbitant income. And your son that got his college tuition "paid" for by his employer? Hmm. Do ya think his employer received a tax break from the "evil" government to pay for your kid's college tuition? Talk about welfare!!
Posted by k20thmaine at 05/01/2009 @ 5:02pm
Anti: You have a firefighter son making 200k a year? I guess the government is ok for some people. The taxpayers of Oakland are supporting your son's exorbitant income. And your son that got his college tuition "paid" for by his employer? Hmm. Do ya think his employer received a tax break from the "evil" government to pay for your kid's college tuition? Talk about welfare!!
Posted by k20thmaine at 05/01/2009 @ 5:02pm
Yes, he is both a fireman and paramedic and works his butt off for the people of Oakland. It is the highest paying Fire Dept in California.
So what if my son's employer received a tax break for paying for his education.
A little lesson for you; corporations don't pay taxes, their customers pay them.
Posted by antisocialist at 05/01/2009 @ 5:32pm
"he founders view of liberty was that govt should not be a hinderance to the pursuit of happiness. That does not mean that govt is supposed to be the enabler."
Your choice of words is revealing. Enabler is traditionally used to describe behavior that encourages another's destructive behavior - a person who ignores their spouse's alcoholism or a parent who tolerates their child's violent outbursts. I've never thought of helping kids get a college education or to pursue their full potential to be "enabling." The liberty you tout will be fleeting if the United States continues its anti-intellectual bent, all the while scientifically and technologically we fall behind much of the rest of the world. It's no coincidence that the most prosperous parts of our nation are where there are the highest levels of college-educated people.
Posted by dunder at 05/01/2009 @ 8:22pm