In today's Des Moines Register, there's a story about how Iowa's republican senator, Chuck Grassley, chided higher education institutions into using more of their endowment funds to pay for tuition for struggling students. It seems that they were listening, as Yale has agreed to help "struggling" families making "as little" as $180,000 per year.
Excuse me, but since when are families making $180,000 dollars per year "struggling?" And, if a family can't afford to send their student to Yale, there are a lot of other fine institutions that charge quite a bit less.
The real crisis in education in this country is the lack of federally backed student loans for every student. Instead, our government has thrown families and their students to the "wolves," banks across the country who could give a crap less if a student came out of state college with a $100,000 debt behind their name. You see, a high student loan debt hanging around your neck almost guarantees a credit card customer who will soon being paying of staggering debt at 27% interest.
The combination of student loan debt and credit card debt effectively defers the dreams of many young people, strapping them down and preventing them from reaching their full potential.
One of my political heroes, Ted Kennedy, has worked his career to help young people afford college by proposing funding for a number of very effective programs targeted to reach low and middle income students. No offense, Senator Grassley, but I think it's more critical to target funding to these students who have little choice about loan financing. To his credit, Iowa's own Senator Tom Harkin is a leader on this issue as well.
In addition to controlling tuition increases, offering low-interest, government-sponsored loans is the surest way to guarantee the workforce that we desperately need to replace the retiring baby boomers.
So, thanks for looking out for Yale students, Chuck. While you're at it, can you look out for me and my kids, too?
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