This article from the New York Times discusses each presidential candidates plan in regard to federal funding for college students.
“On the area of assisting students to gain a college opportunity, President Obama has exerted the most impressive leadership of any president in my memory,” said Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education.
Mitt Romney has also called the aid expansion unsustainable, and his campaign’s education plan says he would “refocus Pell Grant dollars on the students that need them most.”
Some conservatives say that the law of supply and demand states that pouring more money into higher education will only make costs rise. Do you think that the benefits out-weigh the cost? How would you change federal funding for college students?
I agree with the statement made in regards to the law of supply and demand. If the government keeps spending money on programs that assist people in college, the number of students is going to rise, which in turn drives up the demand for colleges, which then causes them to raise prices. I know there was mention in the article that college prices have risen in the past even when government spending in grant programs have not, however I do see it playing a role. To be clear, I am not saying that education is not important and that we should have less people in college, but we need to understand the larger effects that these grant programs can have on things such as our deficit and our budget. I think Romney's idea of "refocusing" the money could be a useful way of freeing up some federal money.
ReplyDeleteI think that Colleges and higher learning institutions should be more transparent. I do not know what Kalamazoo's revenue base is, nor how much they shell out yearly for teacher-wages, campus maintenance, etc. However what I do know is that we have the highest tuition in the state. The college will spend over $1,000 on the homecoming dance this coming weekend, for a party that a lot of people wont even be aware of. They also pay 90-100% of many students tuition, on the basis that it makes our campus more 'diverse'. Anonymous beneficiaries account for a lot of this, and I am unaware if there is any greater motivation behind these donations other than charitable desires.
ReplyDeleteThe point that most struck me in the article was that college's could not charge what they are now--if not for federal aid grants. This defeats the purpose of federal aid in the first place. College should be affordable for more people, as opposed to increasingly exclusionary on the basis of cost.
On the topic of our Presidential Candidates, it is clear that Obama has a lot more of a direct plan for college students. Romney's plan is much more tied up in trickle-down benefits that will (in theory) benefit every sector of the economy, college students included. One benefit to Obama's presence in office, is that interest rates have remained at an all-time low, with loans ever-easy to come by. I would like to see so more analysis, however, as to why tuition rates have gone up nation-wide even during the recession. Obama highlighted during the debate that prices on most consumer goods are higher now...because we have pulled every dollar up out of the recession. But tuition rates don't seem to be dependent on this, as they have gone up continuously during and after it's peak. Overall, I would like to see more transparency and accountability for our education institutions.
The topic of increasing college costs in a very tough and interesting topic. For the most part it would seem as if adding to tuition costs across the board would be a bad things for prospective students. However, I find that these increasing costs simply means that the government is aiding more people in attending college. I feel as if there is not right answer to this problem and all choices have both pros and cons to them. By increasing the federal aid we give many more people the opportunity to attend school, however, the prices will continue to rise. On the other hand, reducing this aid will adversely effect the number of people who can attend college while overall lowering the prices.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of higher education is way too high in my opinion. It has been said that student loans are going to cause the next financial crisis. Graduates are commonly struggling to get jobs after graduation. It seems a bit backward to be paying thousands of dollars for an education when most people aren't see a return on their “educational investment.”
ReplyDeleteInvesting in education means more people have the ability to learn and build a better future for themselves. Increasing educational spending promotes people to go out and innovate, thus stimulating economic growth.
At some point I believe the issue may take care of itself. Colleges are run like business, and this is because there is a lot of money in higher education. I feel like there will come a day when kids simply can't afford certain schools and will simply attend what they can afford. The college money bubble will pop in some sense and we will see tuitions drop across the board as more and more schools try to compete with one another for students dollars. Current college tuition rates in my opinion are the rates going up to steadily to be sustainable and what I have described is the natural evolution of the issue.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brandon that increasing education cost is tough and sensitive topic. The article makes a very good point about the quality of education. Given the cost of attending a college, getting federal aid might give incentives for people to got to college but if the people are not able to graduate then the money is not being used properly. Putting young people into debt, who could not complete their college education might raise a crisis in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough topic to talk about. Giving grants is great and federal aid is nice too but that is just more loans for students to take out. With jobs being hard to come by, and thousands of students each year graduating with thousands of dollars in debt, eventually this is all going to come back and cause another crisis as too many people will be in debt and not be able to pay it back. College is very expensive and it used to be worth the investment as you would set yourself up for a better future but in this economy, getting a job anywhere seems to be an accomplishment in itself.
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