Monday, January 30, 2012

PBS news: Changes Coming in terms of Federal Aid's Link to a College's Affordability

Should Financial Aid Be Linked to a College's Affordability? - YouTube:

The PBS NewsHour reports that Obama is threatening to reduce Federal funding for Higher Ed institutions that cannot contain their tuition prices and hikes.

This situation really pisses me off. Especially in terms of how students are being exploited. And, even more especially because it is the poorest and least powerful student groups that are target. Why else would someone attend a state school, if they had unlimited funds to attend any school they would like.

From what I understand of the report is that schools have raised costs, mainly to increase overhead in the form of administrative staffing and other non-mission oriented costs.

The president of the University of California system admitted that he predicts that if the threat is realized, tuition prices will indeed drop.

In other words, that means there is wiggle room in tuition prices. If there wasn't room for changes, colleges would respond with, "Cut our funding Pres Obama but that means students will just be left to pay the part removed from our budgets. We cant cut our prices anymore. We are at rock-bottom." But, colleges know that this threat of punishment will work to achieve the aims the president is initiating for our good.

So in the age of record deficits and economic hard-times, schools have been embellishing their campuses, increasing salaries and staff, and reserviing more of the money coming in, rather than simply providing a good educational system, which is their mission. And, we have been paying for it -- students AND tax-payers.

Thank you, once again, Pres. Obama for taking the initiative to solve this problem plaguing our society. We are the 99%.