The passionate campus protests in California and elsewhere last week were a reminder for all of us who work in education that schools -- the people who work in them and the students who learn in them -- are a treasured investment. Decrying college fee increases and widespread budget cuts, the demonstrators especially highlighted the hardships that many families face in affording college, especially in this still-recovering economy.
Last week's demonstrations were also a reminder of why it is essential that Congress pass the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), a landmark piece of legislation that addresses college affordability concerns through direct financial aid that cuts out middlemen bankers. Awaiting action by the Senate, SAFRA would expand aid for America's college-going students by billions of dollars, and would restructure our student aid programs to make them simpler, more efficient, and more reliable. The plan pays for these improvements by ending taxpayer subsidies to banks and moving our money to students. We cannot let this opportunity slip away.
But expanding financial aid is only half of the affordability equation; state leaders and college administrators must work to slow the growth of college costs. I am concerned that tuition and fees at public colleges and universities are set to spike even further as states continue to trim their budgets.
State governments generate less revenue in a recession. As state leaders struggle to make up for lost revenue, legislatures tend to cut funding for higher education. Colleges, in turn, answer these funding cuts with tuition hikes. Ultimately, states are resolving short-term crises by undermining long-term investment in future generations.
States should not balance their budgets on the backs of students. Instead, colleges should scrutinize their spending for ways they can trim costs. For example, this year the University of North Carolina hired a management consulting team that identified $150 million in annual savings. Every school should be looking for ways to save.
University presidents and governing boards must pay more attention to efficiency, productivity, and accountability as reform tools. With productivity improvements and enhanced accountability, many post-secondary institutions can boost quality and access - all while containing costs.
The alternative - pricing millions of students out the American Dream - is unacceptable to me, both as Secretary of Education and as a parent.
Last week, a few days before the demonstrations on campuses, I participated in an online conversation that the White House organized to talk about the President's higher education agenda. During the webchat one participant's statement really disheartened me. A woman named Melissa questioned why she should encourage her children to go to college if they're almost certain to graduate with a huge burden of debt. "It's a noose around your neck that you never get out of," she wrote.
With the ever-escalating cost of college, I can understand Melissa's thinking. But a college degree is still absolutely worth it. According to U.S. Census data, adults with a bachelor's degree earn 70 percent more than adults with just a high school diploma. In the 21st century global job market, it's the lack of at least some college-level education that will be the lifelong noose around your neck, not student loans.
I say that because, through Income Based Repayment, monthly repayments for federal student loans are now capped within an affordable range for people who live within their means. For those who go into public service, such as teachers, their federal student loans can be forgiven after 10 years on the job.
The cost of college should never discourage anyone from going after a valuable degree. And helping America's students pursue their education should always trump bankers in pursuit of profits.
College is a very important step for two reasons. One it shows you can commit to something and finish it and two it offers you connections for your future. You never know who you are going to need to know to get that dream job and that person may be the one you served drinks to in the club house or it may be the person who sat next to you in physics 101 or it may be the Aunt of the girl who lived across the hall in your dorm you don't know but you will never meet them if you don't go.
Let's talk about those students who receive Pell Grants like the female student you mentioned who has a child. It is a much better inevstment of tax payer money to educate a person from a low income who will, in turn, contribute to their community as a employee and a tax payer than to simply have them receive public assistance as an unemployed person. I think it is a pretty good investment of my money to educate as many people as we can.
What are people FOR, Arnie?
If your answer has anything involving "profit", "national interests", or "commerce" in it, then you need to go back to spending more time with those Socratic students.
Go Arne Duncan!
WRONG!
And an ignorant statement to boot, from a very intelligent woman.
Going to college should be an economic decision same as any other. If it doesn't have a Net Present Value > Zero you shouldn't attend.
The people prospering in TODAY'S economy are tradespeople. Auto techs, plumbers, people who REPAIR things others consider vital.
A college education is no substitute for a marketable skill.
Problem is too many people don't seek valuable degrees . . . I mean if you want to be a public school teacher . . . it's probably not the best idea to head to a private school paying $35k a year.
Meanwhile, I'm stuck paying an additional 4-5 thousand dollars for classes which in no way relate to my field.
It wouldn't be so bad if these extra courses were business related or field-relevant.... but to put them in to 'round out' my education is a waste of my time and waste of my money.
Times have changed. Education has evolved. The work place and career fields are a new arena. Any curriculum not directly related to the goal is a waste of money.
Since 1985:
Energy costs - 108% increase
Medical costs - 251% increase
College costs - 439%
Anyone who has attended college in the past decade sees the signs of mismangement all over campus.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/20/pf/college/college_price.moneymag/index.htm?postversion=2008082214
But to be able to pay off tuition loans, you need more fair loans. That's exactly what SAFRA will do.
College is an investment in yourself, if college was free . . . I'd of stayed a few more years to party.
read the article before commenting. Arne is not advocating privatization.
Duncan is chastising state governments for not having enough tax dollars left over after the federal government takes all of the taxes.
As a teacher in the state of California I would like to send you a little message.
With my low salary (I live in my brother's basement) and the need for continued education at extraordinary costs, I can no longer afford to be a teacher. It simply does not make sense for me to spend ten percent of my salary on my college loans only to accumulate more debt.
I love my kids and people who love to work with significantly learning handicapped kids are hard to come by. So next year my school will lose a good, dedicated teacher because she can't afford to live on what they offer her.