Money to Learn

[marmar]

from OurFuture.org:



Money to Learn
By Terrance Heath

June 19th, 2008 - 4:03pm ET


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

It's the kind of thing that's easily written off as a photo opportunity: a presidential candidate sitting down with a worried student and a financial aid administrator, working out a plan to help the student pay for her education. But, not if the candidate is one who understands the importance of education, and the difficulty of paying for it. So, when I read about Barack Obama helping a college student with her tuition concerns, it made sense.

A tearful Wayne County Community College student got advice and encouragement from Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday, as he touted his plan to improve financial aid and tax credits to college students.

Marilyn Pace is about $1,500 short of paying for tuition and supplies for her dental hygiene studies, she told Obama at a meeting arranged by his aides. After she described the costs of supplies and exams, gas to get to and from classes and her father's disability, which keeps him from working, a financial aid counselor told her and Obama that private loans should be able to close her financial gap -- prompting tears from her and encouraging words from the candidate.

It may have something to do with understanding what it's like to go into debt for an education.

"Unfortunately, another thing that Michelle and I have in common is that we left school with a mountain of debt," he said. "Michelle I know had at least $60,000. I had at least $60,000, so when we got together we had a lot of loans to pay. In fact, we did not finish paying them off until probably we'd been married for at least eight years, maybe nine. And like a lot of families, we were still dealing with the cost of our own education when we had to start thinking about saving for our children."

Which is probably why he's proposing help for students struggling with the cost of getting an education.

"This isn't an issue you hear Sen. John McCain talk about much," Obama said. "It's not just that he doesn't have a real plan to make college affordable. It's that he has voted time and time again to stop us from making college affordable."

Obama has proposed a $4,000 tax credit his campaign says would pay nearly all the annual expenses for community college students and two-thirds of costs at four-year public schools. In return, students would have to perform 100 hours of community service each year. He also would make changes that reduce administrative costs and bank subsidies in federal student loans, and simplify the financial aid application process.

"Every college-savings account starts with a job, and Barack Obama has proposed tax hikes on over 21 million small businesses that drive job growth," said Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for McCain.

There's more than a little irony in the McCain campaign's response — or non-response — to Obama's proposal, because much of the difficulties students and families face in paying for education are direct consequences of conservatism and its impact on our economy. The credit crisis, brought to us in part by McCain's own economic advisor, has driven some student lenders out of the market, and a few into bankruptcy.

It's dried up the other resources families once used to finance their kids' education; bank loans and home equity lines of credit are harder to get. More than 70% of parents who responded to a survey just a few months ago indicated that they were "very concerned" about how they would pay for college. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/money-learn