The Research after the Rant.

As I talked about earlier, the cost of college has been an issue for a long time. Things are just getting worse. Tuition is going up and Pell funding is going down as the criteria for eligibility changes. Fortunately, they didn't need me to tell them to start dealing with it. Here are several new approaches that are being taken towards financial aid:

A New Way for Need Based Aid This article talks about the program that Oregon is called a 'shared responsibility' plan. Students will be expected to pay the equivalent of what they could earn working full time during the summer and up to 12 hours a week while in class(Oregon's minimum wage is currently $7.50) for a community college. For a four year institution they will be expected to take out a loan for some of the additional costs. Student's families are also expected to contribute their portion as outlined by federal financial aid methodology. Oregon will pay what is left over.

This plan was developed after a committee polled citizens about starting an endowment and received negative reactions. The people who spoke out said that they didn't want to give students a sense of entitlement, and that higher education was a privilege not a right. This way students can prove themselves and earn their education.

I am troubled by this plan and it probably has a lot to do with my financial/academic history. I had a full ride to college that was a combination of need and merit based aid, so I earned part of my aid. However, the work I did to earn my scholarship was on school work, and it was my expectation that the work I would do here would be on school work. College is supposed to be a full time job. For every hour of class I’m suppose to spend 2 to 3 hours outside of class studying. This program is requiring students to have 1 ⅓ jobs if their parents or spouses are contributing. The article wasn’t clear about whether the family contribution was necessary to receive the funding or if it was just part of the calculation for how much the funding would be awarded. Another issue I have with this program is that they are setting the program up on students’ potential earnings. Do the students still have to pay tuition at the beginning of the school year? Has anyone taken into account the additional hours the student will have to work for living expenses? Are programs going to be put in place to ensure that students can find and maintain a minimum wage job? What about a full time job? What about the holiday breaks are students no longer going to be able to visit home for fall and spring break because they need to make those 12 hours that week?

Student is an occupation. Students are showing their responsibility by being successful on campus. I don’t think that they should have to prove their worth in any other way especially knowing that part time jobs have been shown to have negative impacts on student grades and involvement.

A different approach is coming from the University of Washington. Everyone who qualifies for Pell Grants or need based state aid will have their tuition and fees paid for by the university. A capital campaign is currently underway to raise funds and the program will be implemented at all of the University of Washington campuses. This plan is following the lead of some private colleges, but unlike their plans UW will not be covering room and board. Since the criteria is that they be eligible for other aid, students will be expected to use that aid for housing.

I suppose that it's a bit obvious that I support this program more. I don't have anything at all against giving away education. The GI Bill has proven that education is simply good for the country. In the most basic and measurable sense, if we educate people, they get better jobs. With those better jobs they make more money. When they make more money they spend more money and pay more taxes. Now we'll just have to develop a better system for determining need.

Its degrees that we shouldn't be giving away, but grade inflation should be a completely different post.