Making College Affordable - Now and in the Future
"This is really the first time that an entire generation of Americans has had to go deeply into debt in order to get a college degree. Public service professions, like teaching, are suffering, because graduates often cannot manage their college debt on public service salaries. And many would-be students as many as 200,000 per year are choosing to delay or forgo attending college because they can't afford it.""This poses a serious threat not just to students and families, but to our nation's economy and to our future."
- Congressman George Miller (D-CA)
“Student debt is like quicksand – it swallows you up before you have a chance to gain your footing. Graduating from college should kick start a young person’s professional life, but massive debt will just bog you down for decades."
- Senator Chuck Schumer, (D-NY)
As part of their first 100 Hours Agenda, Democrats in the House are expected to vote tomorrow on the “College Student Relief Act of 2007” - which will cut interest rates in half on loans for middle class borrowers to a fixed rate of 3.4 percent, saving the average student thousands over the life of his or her loans.
Some facts about the rising cost of college and student aid:
- The costs of attending college continue to skyrocket - putting college out-of-reach for more and more students. Tuition and fees at public universities have increased by 41 percent after inflation since the 2000-2001 school year and tuition and fees at private universities have jumped by 17 percent after inflation.
- In addition to tuition and fees rising, interest rates on student loans have risen. Over the last five years, the interest rates on student loans have jumped by almost 2 percentage points - further increasing the cost of college. More and more students are staggering under the load of student debt - with the typical student borrower now graduating from college with $17,500 in debt.
- According to studies from the Department of Education, financial barriers will prevent 4.4 million high school graduates from attending a four-year public college over the next decade, and prevent another two million high school graduates from attending any college at all.
- More than ever, the health of our economy rests on having a highly-skilled and well-educated workforce. College access is the key to our remaining strong in the face of an increasingly competitive global economy. Without changes, by the year 2020, the United States is projected to face a shortage of up to 12 million college-educated workers, directly threatening America's economic strength.
Read the bill, here.
Comments (9) «
« Hide Comments
Comments are now closed for this entry.
