Saturday, October 6, 2007

Afforable College: An Oxymoron

Does Congress care about the price of a college tuition?

The question seems easy if you boil it down to a simple set of facts: Legislators care about the votes needed to get them elected. The votes belong to the constituents. Their constituents care about the price of college. However, a recent act has people wondering where the line was broken.

Congress passed the "Make College Affordable Act," but we don't pay them to make cool names.

We focus on private lenders that utilize corrupt methods, but sometimes we tend to miss the true picture of those lenders who get away with murder because they have no competition.

There are few bad remarks that can be made about a bill that saves college students money; the legislators who passed it did so on our dollar, so the public has a right to question.

Opponents of the bill are claiming that it was somewhat of a conspiracy so that the liberal Congress could meet a conservative president halfway.

Some conservatives are saying that Bush sold out that portion of the party so that he will not have to listen to the Democrats complain about Iraq.

With liberals known to spend heavily on education reform and with such a troubled current administration, I would say that it is a little bit of both. The government had to throw someone a bone, and we are lucky they choose college students.

The main part of this bill is the increase in the Federal Pell Grant from $4,310 to $5,400.The Pell Grant is a scholarship given by the government. It is based on the level of financial aid needed by the individual student and, fortunately, does not need to be paid back. The increase can hardly keep up with inflation. Inflation will occur over a five-year period, so it will be at its highest when the current freshmen graduate.

The problem with the Pell Grant increase is that it does not fix the problem now. As noted, the grant will increase as the inflation also rises.

College will always cost more, and if you're really worried about the cost of your college experience, then you shouldn't even think about having to pay for your kids' college experience.

The best part of this bill is probably that the government cut interest loans in half from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent. When current Fairfield students graduate, they will be paying a significantly lower rate. Cutting the interest rate on loans can become a huge help, but you have to wonder what the loan companies are going to do in response now the that government is the key player of the loan world. That's going to mean a lot of free trips down Amelia Island.

Who would logically have more money, a company dealing with college students or a government that is funding a war in Iraq? Naturally, loan companies' finances can't compete with those of the national government.In addition to that, the government has imposed a cut on interest rates from private lenders.

In a noble effort to try and help their constituents, dipping their hand into the lending business can have a negative effect if the lenders go out of business. Then you're paying the full load for your kids.

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