President-Elect Barack Obama’s Views On Higher Education
Due to a problematic U.S. economy, there was little mention of higher education in either the Republican or Democrat presidential campaigns. However, President-Elect Barack Obama has made many proposals about higher education throughout his career which may become law during the next four years, such as:
Loan programs
- Eliminating subsidies to lenders and running all student-borrowing through the direct lending program. He stated that eliminating all the subsidies given to private companies would allow extra money for Pell Grants
Increased access to higher education
- A fully refundable tax credit to cover the first $4,000 in college costs, which in many cases would cover two years of tuition at a community college. The only requirement would be 100 hours of public service a year
- Simplification of federal aid applications
- Keep Pell Grant maximums rising at the level of inflation, or higher
Community colleges
- Create a new grant program for community colleges to conduct an analysis of the types of skills and technical education that are in high demand from students and local businesses
- Create new associate of arts degree programs that cater to emerging careers
- Reward institutions that graduate more students and also increase their numbers of transfer students to four-year institutions
Science and technology
- Expand the financing of federal research programs
- Create new programs to improve math and science education and attract more students to them
Other initiatives
- Affirmative action should not be eliminated; instead create a combination of class and race as factors
- Lift bans on Reserve Officers Training Corps programs
- Restructure the cost of college textbooks and disallow professors to assign only their own books as coursework
- Allow those without legal status to be in the United States to attend community college
President-Elect Barack Obama has offered many other unique ideas to make college more affordable; however, it is doubtful that any of these will be addressed in the near future as the current economy may warrant most of his attention. A complete analysis of all his education views can be found under “Issues” at http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
Net Price vs Advertised Price
The economic turmoil has all of us concerned about making any long-term financial commitments, including the cost of higher education. As the stock market makes huge jumps on a daily basis and we hear news about bailouts, a recession and rising unemployment; families with college-bound children are looking seriously at the price tag of college. There are many reports that families are now considering only less expensive public universities, rather than attending private institutions.
However, families may be surprised to learn that private colleges and universities can be as affordable as public ones. To provide a clearer picture of what a higher education actually costs, students and families should look at each college’s ”net price” (advertised price minus the amount of financial aid that students receive).
Private institutions use their endowments, in-house scholarships, and other programs to reduce many students’ overall costs by more than half. When this institutional aid is factored in, many students at public and private colleges actually pay similar amounts for their education. Furthermore, private colleges offer other benefits not typically found at public universities; such as, small classes, higher quality facilities, one-on-one contact with professors, an emphasis on high-quality teaching, and better out-of-classroom experiences.
If you are still in the process of choosing colleges, please contact our office prior to filing your financial aid form(s). We can help you to maximize your opportunity to get the best college deal, regardless of the “advertised” price.
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