The Asian Herald
October 2013 (5)
Bonna's Corner
graduate to find job placement. 2. Colleges will team up with industries and offer meaningful courses and counseling to students and parents. 3. The number of students dropping out of college (for fear of student loan debt) will reduce and more students will dare themselves to the finish line, knowing that their chance of finding employment is greater. 4.Minorities will no longer be marginalized but get help needed to succeed in school. Remember that no matter how good President Obamaโs proposal sounds it is not the law. The plan is only a wish without the approval of Congress. It is therefore our responsibility to put our weight behind President Obama to make sure Congress pass a bill to implement some meaningful changes to address the rising educational cost. Let your congressman or congresswoman know you support President Obamaโs initiative. Again, let us hold the President responsible to complete what he has started. He should not rest until he leaves the youth some legacy, notably- AFFORDABLE COLLEGE EDUCATION TO ALL AMERICANS. Bonna is the author of Who is Barack Obama [Available in 13 major languages)and Barack Obama: the Road to the White House, now available in your local bookstores. Find more of his other books on Amazon.โ
MAKING COLLEGE EDUCATION AFFORDABLE Although it is acknowledged that education would bridge the gap and level the plane for low-income students/ families,
the reality is gradually becoming an illusion. Unless one is privileged to get into an ivy-league college the opportunity for upward mobility is challenging. Many end up graduating from colleges that did not prepare them adequately to compete. Meanwhile these students pay a lot of money for the education they signed up for. Since students take federal loans with interests, inability to find jobs after graduation even puts them at a more disadvantage to succeed as they would end up with a growing debt they cannot pay soon. Making higher education accessible to all Americans is not a privilege but a right. Although the FAFSA money is distributed to all colleges, not all colleges are stepping up to justify the funds they receive from the government. If the US government under FAFSA spends $150 billion in federal assistance to students annually, mostly in loans there is no justification to produce graduates who cannot find a job placement. President Obama is proposing that colleges that fail to hold down cost should not be funded with government money while colleges that hold down cost get more federal money. According to data compiled by the Higher Education Policy Institute, between 1982 and 2012, college tuition and fees have risen, on average, by 603 percent. It is obvious that colleges have inflated the prices of college tuition. This is ridiculous, and it is about time someone in authority spoke for the lower income families that are being hit the hardest. Over that same period, between 1982 and 2012, the Consumer
Price Index has risen 130 percent, and median family income only148 percent. โHigher education is not a luxury but an economic imperative,โ argues President Obama. Speaking at the University of Buffalo on Thursday August 24, 2013, President Obama acknowledged that the middle class struggles to meet the persistent soaring financial burden on college education; and this must be the concern of government. Higher cost of getting a meaningful education is widening the gap between the rich and poor as lack of affordability creates a barrier and a burden to the low income family in America. It used to be that once you study hard and maintain good grades one could easily move up the social ladder --from poverty to middle class and possibly, the upper class (with a very good and affordable education). On his bus tour, President Obama admitted that college fees are unfairly priced. Based on the outcome of many colleges, I agree with the President. Indeed, some are graduating with degrees that cannot find them jobs. It was only proper and presidential that Obama would step in at this time. He is proposing that colleges that produce un-employable graduates should not be funded with federal funds. They should be penalized with less federal aid instead. Education must be a tool for upward mobility not keeping the status quo. President Obama has laid out three key steps that need to be taken to ensure that college remains not only affordable but as a viable ladder of economic opportunity for the lower class to the middle class. 1. First, connect financial aid to school performance, 2. Second support academic innovation and finally, 3. keep the cost of higher education within the reach of all young Americans It is good news that President Obama has now begun to put into action the promise he made to students and the
youth during his 2008 presidential campaign to make college education affordable. President Obama could be the first American president ever to go on a tour (in a non-election time) only to campaign for studentsโ interest. The Obamaโs plan presupposes a Federal Rating System that will allow parents and students to compare colleges for their money worth. Colleges would now be rated on cost (i.e., input versus output). The Obama plan seeks to address the rising college tuition cost, which has increased over 250 percent in the past three decades. Under his proposal, borrowers would be allowed to cap their student loan payments at 10 percent of their monthly income. The college rating system would tie aid to the collegeโs affordability, the number of students on Pell grants, and the collegeโs ability to produce outcomes, such as graduates with degrees, earnings of graduates, and other factors Implications on Middle Class are worth discussing: 1. Colleges will now be responsible and proactive in finding recruitment opportunities for their students. The onus will no longer solely rest on the
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