Rose Asks Biden About College Costs

In this video, Charlie Rose asks Senator Joe Biden, "If we are founded on the concept of equal opportunity...and education is the great equalizer, shouldn't a college education be free?" Biden outlines his education plans, including tax breaks to help pay for college and an emphasis on early education.

Watch the video below.

See the Candidate Mashup here.

Comments

[ikkytito]

10:25 PM on 09/13/2007

Gotta love Joe Biden. Too damn bad America can't. The guy been thinking about this stuff. So dang honest he'll never be Pres. Just wish America could be sane enuf to to have Joe as Pres. Maybe someday in a better USA a guy like Joe Biden could govern. He seems like a WW2 kinda Democrat-remember when? Good guys still had a chance. Power corrupts - Money and power- Maybe America has reached her zenith-like the Roman Empire. I weep for all those who trusted in the vision- the Hope that once was America. We live in sad times.

[SoonerThought]

09:44 PM on 09/13/2007

Biden has my vote.

[smartstuart]

08:33 PM on 09/13/2007

Why would Rose ask a foreign policy expert like Biden a question about college costs? Biden has the answers about Iraq-just ask him, Charlie!!!Lets hear about college costs from governors or those better-known for their work in this area! You're wasting EVERYONE'S time asking the right question to the wrong candidate!!!

[jumperpin]

08:07 PM on 09/13/2007

The whole obsession with college degrees has NOTHING to do with actual learning. It's a half-assed screening device for obstinate employers - administered by HR personnel who can't get a REAL job.

There's some institutional elitism in there someplace, too.

Yeah we know, many studies confirm the (self-fulfilling) relationship between "degreeism" and lifetime income.

If we had parents again, K-12 schooling could be relieved of the baby-sitting and return to education.

Hwedoneedno steenkin "matriculation".

[HumeSkeptic]

08:04 PM on 09/13/2007

On education, Biden makes sense. It is a small investment ($18 Billion/yr) for the potential pay off. Almost a no brainer.

[bix56]

07:40 PM on 09/13/2007

As a college professor in the state (GA) that invented the Hope Scholarship, I can tell you it has provided a lot of students a chance to go to college who would not afford it otherwise. However, because the scholarship requires maintenance of a "B" average it has created a real problem. Students are more concerned with their grades than what they learn.

Our society needs a higher average level of education to compete worldwide. But, we have to also consider that college is not right for everyone. Trade schools and vocational schools should be included in the mix. We should be willing to pay for everyone to reach a higher level of education. A better educated public is more productive, more civil, less likely to hate others who are different, less likely to kill for sport, more likely to support one another in every way.

Politicians do not want a better educated public. A better educated public would:
-never elect a drunken misfit from Texas who is illiterate
-not watch its leaders take us into an illegal, immoral war that has created more terrorism than it has alleviated
-understand that in 2007 we ARE a part of a global society and like it or not, must learn to "play well with others"
-know that evolution is scientific fact, not a theory as portrayed by people who rely on mythology
-know that global warming is a real threat and dealing with it NOW is the right thing to do
-understand that protecting our environment would create jobs, not destroy them as Republican talking points suggest
-demand that civil liberties be protected at all costs and that freedom of speech does not include huge donations to politicians
-demand more accountibility from its leaders
-demand a higher level of all popular culture

Young people would have interests beyond Brittany Spears' snatch and Lindsey Lohan's drinking. Young people would be motivated beyond text messaging, video games, and surfing the internet.

So, if you want to have a more civil US public, pray that Joe Biden can produce free college for everyone.

[RSU]

08:30 PM on 09/13/2007

I would have hoped that you would have made a distinction between the program run by the state of Georgia and the one under the same name at the national level which is simply a tax credit.

The two programs are worlds apart with dramatically different effects. One has helped thousands, while the other has screwed millions.

[frankifrost]

06:44 PM on 09/13/2007

Mr. Biden,
Don't you care about your legacy.
It's time to Buck Up!
ps
You know what I'm talking about.

[nick1936]

06:35 PM on 09/13/2007

The best person running for president wake up folks and vote for Joe he is the only one who makes sense

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

06:26 PM on 09/13/2007

I'm still ticked that Biden was one of the few Dems to cross the aisle in support of the Bankruptcy bill.

His patrones in Delaware must be so proud.

[chery]

05:47 PM on 09/13/2007

The issue isn't tuition, it's lab fees and tuition! When someone honestly addresses lab fees that are generally more expensive than tuition, then I'm willing to listen to their arguments!

[RSU]

05:11 PM on 09/13/2007

.

[Part 1 of 3]

Does anybody really want to fix the college tuition situation in America?

If so, then a good start would be to repeal The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

This legislation ended a successful 30-year legacy of federal financial aid for needy college students with enactment of the HOPE Scholarship Program. When Bill Clinton signed this Act into law, it instantly slashed billions from Pell Grant recipients and shifted its funds into this new highly flawed program. It screwed millions of kids out of a higher education who needed the help the most and added itself to the bottom line of an unrealized budget surplus.

The HOPE Scholarship program is a Tax Credit. Those who attend qualifying universities and state colleges can use this tax credit to reduce their overall tax burden on earned income. However, it only applies to those who actually pay taxes.

Thomas R. Wolanin, a former Clinton administration education policy advisor and currently Senior Associate at The Institute for Higher Education Policy, (a non-profit, non-partisan education research group) lists a whole slew of effects caused by the enactment of this disastrous program. He openly calls for the elimination of this program that actually, and get this, “encouraged states to raise tuition rates while cutting state aid at the same time.”

Additionally, the HOPE scholarship targeted middle income families who would have most likely attended with or without the aid provided under HOPE while excluding lower income earners who need the most help.

In effect, what the HOPE scholarship program did was to reduce the amount of money available through Pell Grants by the amount expected to be paid out under HOPE. But, the program was flawed from the start. Since HOPE relies upon tax credits to repay families for college expenses ‘after they have been paid’, no actually money changes hands.
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[RSU]

05:12 PM on 09/13/2007

.

[Part 2 of 3]

The problem with this only begins to surface when one looks at what happens to poorer families who 1) often don’t have the money to spend up front on higher education and 2) oftentimes don’t pay taxes because they don’t earn enough to qualify. For them, there is no relief either way. With the Pell Grants funding reduced, and HOPE only applying to those who pay taxes, the poor are effectively eliminated from benefiting by either.

In the study “Do Grants Matter” published {*November 17, 1998*} it lists several reasons for the problems being caused by underfunded Pell grants. It states that;

• Federal Pell Grants cover half of what it did 20 years ago
• College prices up 49% after inflation, family income up 10%, but Pell Grants down 23%
• Low-income students most vulnerable to impacts

They go on to say; “In 1976-77, the average Pell grant covered 19% of the annual price of a private, four-year institution, but in 1996-97 it covered only 9% of the price. Similarly, in 1976-77, the average grant covered 39% of the price of a public, four-year school and only 22% in 1996-97.”

“In addition, while the average Pell grant award declined by 23% (after inflation) between 1976-77 and 1996-97, college prices rose by 49%, and family incomes inched slightly higher (10%). This has resulted in a reduction in the overall affordability of college—that is, whether the net price that students and families actually pay is within their reach.”

You should also read “Rhetoric and Reality” May 16, 2001. It states:
“The largest federal tax relief program for college students, and one of the centerpieces of the Clinton administration's policy agenda --the HOPE Scholarship Program-- is under fire in a newly released report that outlines widespread negative impacts on students and their families, colleges, higher education policy, and federal and state tax policies.”

~
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[RSU]

05:13 PM on 09/13/2007

.

[Part 3 of 3]

~

“The study claims the $6 billion annual HOPE program not only "squanders" its substantial funds by failing to produce significant national benefits, but also:

* encourages tuition increases;
* reduces financial aid benefits for low-income students;
* fails to encourage enrollment for those who need such incentives (especially in two-year colleges); and
* increases both the complexity and costs for students and families, higher education institutions, states, and the federal tax system.

Even the intended relief for middle-income students and their families has been negligible, the study states.

In speaking about the rising trends of tuition costs and Pell Grants failure to keep pace, Jamie P. Merisotis, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy said;

“Another important contributor to escalating tuitions is that the market permits it. Even though public-sector tuitions have increased faster than the rate of inflation for more than 20 years, enrollments have continued to ratchet upward. Simply put, the students keep paying, thus allowing tuitions to keep rising.”

In fact, there have been huge increases in enrollments causing colleges to raise their rates. With limited seats available, and more students attending, colleges have no choice but to limit their availability by raising the costs to attend.

I could quite easily make this a partisan issue by pointing out how the poor have been cheated from participating in the American dream by this ill conceived program. However, this issue transcends partisan politics and touches the very fabric of our society. It needs to be fixed by eliminating the HOPE Scholarship and restoring funding to Pell Grants thereby allowing everyone the chance at a better life regardless of status or income.

RSU

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[bickerson4]

04:29 PM on 09/13/2007

liberals should not complain about how much an education costs.

we want to give those profs at least 4 months off per year and then pay them for a couple of years of sabbaticals every few years too.

that's what progressives do. not much of anything. and to force them to do stuff for their money is a sign of rightwing piggishness.

[bickerson4]

04:24 PM on 09/13/2007

it's time to have a big old investigation of big ejumikashun.

the price of a college ejumikashun is rising as fast as big oil, big pharm, big healthcare, big insurance and all the other bigs.

those lib ivory tower types run big ejumicashun too.

we know tht libs look out for the little guy because they keep telling us they do.

how come they can't stop the rise in prices?

it's not like they have to go out and drill oil or manufacture anything. they just sit around on their asses.

[Think82]

03:33 PM on 09/13/2007

Biden got another key Iowa endorsement today from the house majority leader. He has the second most endorsements in Iowa except for Hillary!

www.planforiraq.com

[TonyaDLuv]

03:28 PM on 09/13/2007

Giuliani demands MoveOn’s New York Times ad rate

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said Thursday that he is asking The New York Times for the “same heavily discounted rate they gave MoveOn.org” for his campaign to run an ad in Friday’s paper.

-----------------------------------------

LOL! Think the old Liberal Lady will give him the same rate?

[JoJoGunner]

03:31 PM on 09/13/2007

Maybe if he wears his little black Gucci dress and his Dolly Parton wig.