New Student Aid money on the way --$60 Billion Worth--

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The legislation, an Obama domestic priority overshadowed by his health care victory, represents the most sweeping rewrite of college assistance programs in four decades. It strips banks of their role as middlemen in federal student loans and puts the government in charge.

The switch to direct government loans will result in savings to boost Pell Grants and make it easier for some workers to repay their student loans. In addition, some borrowers could see lower interest rates and higher approval rates on student loans.

The legislation has a wide reach. About half of undergraduates receive federal student aid and about 8.5 million students are going to college with the help of Pell Grants.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, praised the bill as a victory for middle-class families.

"Now they'll have the assurance that their kids will be able to afford to go to college and again, when they get out, they won't be burdened with a huge debt," Harkin said.

The changes do not go as far as Obama and House Democrats wanted. That is because ending fees for private lenders would save less money than they anticipated, according to budget scorekeepers. The bill is now expected to save $61 billion over 10 years.

LInk

What do you all think. I am personally pumped about this as a student.

My mom just started college last autumn at the age of 40 and I am so happy because she is going to college for agriculture, she wants to be a farmer. I am glad Obama is doing this, thumbs up for him.

This one "sounds" like a good bill.

The devil is always in the details. We would have to dissect it to see if there are any hidden "cons" or "give away clauses to special interest groups"

reply to post by guidanceofthe third kind


A Pell Grant is how much anyway -- $2000? A year of school including room and board is probably at least $20,000 even at a public university.

Yeah a quick google says max. Pell Grant is $5000 or so. Some tuition is under $10,000 -- 50% of so of schools but then you got room and board expenses.... books, transportation costs....

So you get 30% of the cost covered at most.

[edit on 25-3-2010 by drew hempel]

I think this might be a good thing. The student loan companies keep testing the waters. theyve been raising raits slowly over the years and really they always offer more than you need


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there are no more student loan companies. That is why banks didnt want this bill, because they wanted another cut.

Not to take away from the education perspective. I for one want to go to college and may have to take aid which if all is right I will be able to pay back. The problem is how can we keep affording all of this spending. With all the trillions I know that 60bil doesn't seem like much but this seems like an intentional crashing of the dollar. Maybe I am just thinking too hard into it but it seems more obvious everyday.

Well this would be great if it actually benefits students who need it. I pay my own tuition because I cant get grants which is BS. I dont make enough money to pay 5k every semester for school so sometimes I have to take off for a period of time to make the money and it sucks. I should be done by now but NOOOO they dont want to help me, they want to help, well dont even get me started. The subject of money for school really gets to me. I have a 4.0 and should be able to get something but I dont. I have done it all, I cant even get a loan for heavens sake. I swear this semester I am checking different boxes.

Imo education should be free or drastically reduced in price. They make you go to school until you are 18 and after that you are basically crap out of luck if you dont have your parents pay for it or you cant get funding for it. If you have to pay yourself, well good luck. Everyone should be able to have a college education if they want, money shouldnt be an obstical.

Where the healthcare bill didnt do anything about astronomical costs this here doesnt appear to do anything about the astronomical cost of attending Big U. It just funnels taxpayer money into the pockets of Big U. Why do so many people get all huffy and upset at the high cost of pharmaceuticals and procedures but they never question paying more than the average annual salary for a few months of getting drunk with friends and exerting no effort for passing grades?

The university bailout.

Don't get me wrong, supplying a quality higher education for all at the best price possible is a worthy goal. Quite honestly, the government should takes steps to make college more affordable for all. The main problem as someone else eluded to is the actual costs of it. The annual increase in the cost of a 4 year degree keep rising, on par with drug company prices, well above inflation for no apparent reason. There is a LOT of fat to be trimmed from the colleges and universities, but we don't seem to be attacking them with the same vigor as the banks and car companies. Real reform is needed. Having the Federal Govt. take over the Student Loan biz might be good but only if they can start to control the spiraling costs of a 4 year degree.

"It just funnels taxpayer money into the pockets of Big U."

Yep, you got it. More money for the American establishment's important propaganda machines.

reply to post by guidanceofthe third kind


A good thing? well it depends where you are located at and what your state government is up to when it comes of the budget cuts that they are forced into doing to keep the states working.

Pell Grant was a big thing when I went to school in the seventies, it covered everything from books, food and Tuition, I even had cash back every semester.

The student loans started when the private colleges started to appear with higher tuitions that Pell Grant could not cover, school in my time was for those that made the grades, those that could not got private colleges and student loans.

Now is all about states individual students assistance and student loans, Pell grant is for the very poor

Here in Ga we are facing education cuts that will increase tuitions, close some colleges and lower the state funded students aids, from 4 to 2 years, so I guess somebody has to take the burden of the cuts, pell grant at the rescue, or tax payer at the rescue? or government now monitored student loans.

It's only Obama money folks. Where it comes from I don't know. Social Security is going into the red this year, Medicare is going bust, we just passed a bill that will increase the size of govt to limits never seen before, The nationalization of the Student loan business is just the jelly in the middle of the donut. There is more to come.

Unfortunately, this is not going to stop universities from jacking tuition by 3% or greater every year. It will only encourage increases due to the new free flow of govt. dollars for everyone.

How about some more incentives to get our youth into the skilled trades?? Is that considered to low to go for the progressive intellectual elite that are now running our country. It is actually more difficult to reach the level of Master Plumber, Carpenter, Electrician than it is to earn a piece of paper in two or four years.

It is getting harder and harder to find a craftsman with skill and integrity. Those guys are getting old and hanging up their trowels and chisels.

I wasted four years of college when I should have been wielding a chisel and a mallet.

reply to post by jibeho


Actually you are right, my daughter went to a very good University, graduated with honors, spend 5 years, got two degrees, now she realized that those that only took 2 years trade are making more than her.

She is unable to find jobs in her field, (foreign workers are preferred) and she is relegated to work in a bank.

But in this time and age, a job is a job is a job, but still living at home at 26.

Originally posted by jibeho
It will only encourage increases due to the new free flow of govt. dollars for everyone.

I work in the world of public libraries and see first hand everyday how "grants" and "subsidies" from this magical unending well of government money creates more greed and more waste as they all try to get more and more of it year after year. The best thing is that by the hording and collecting of this government money the value of the money drops so they need to horde and collect more and more and more.

If I wasnt in the position I am in putting my foot down whenever anybody suggests a wasteful unnecessary program to funnel more of this government money our way we'd have been shut down years ago due to unsustainable growth. Sure, I could wave my hand and get myself more money and more toys and more gadgets and more everything at somebody elses expense but that would be wrong and wasteful and detrimental to the system. Unfortunately my way of doing things is often shunned and mocked in this field. Our budget is balanced, cuts never involve staff or benefits, the patrons love us, the trustees and the town love us. But my peers hate us for not playing the game. Go figure.

Something else worth mentioning is that this waste begins an entire chain of waste. The vendors we deal with for all sorts of things jack their prices up way beyond typical retail costs because more often than not an institution funded by tax dollars is perfectly happy to overpay for things. Either happy to or just oblivious enough to not concern themselves with shopping around. You might go out to Staples and pay $1 for a roll of scotch tape while your local library is paying $2.50 + $3 shipping for that same roll. And they all tell themselves it's okay because hey, it's not my money.

[edit on 26-3-2010 by thisguyrighthere]

this new bill reminds me of a two edged sword. for one the rothchilds, rockefellers, and morgan families who own the irs, federal reserve and the federal government now will be the sole beneficiary of all student loans. which will finally close the monopoly of banking for these few banking families! the other side of this edge per say! is with this economy dying and fewer and fewer jobs there will be no way of filing bankruptcy on student loans. which will put the educated Americans as serfes right out of college. If you take a look outside of this health care box, this bill is like receiving a chocolate cake for your birthday laced with arsenic.
YUMMY! Another bite plz!

Originally posted by drew hempel
reply to post by guidanceofthe third kind

 

A Pell Grant is how much anyway -- $2000? A year of school including room and board is probably at least $20,000 even at a public university.

Yeah a quick google says max. Pell Grant is $5000 or so. Some tuition is under $10,000 -- 50% of so of schools but then you got room and board expenses.... books, transportation costs....

So you get 30% of the cost covered at most.

Where I've seen Pell Grants used very effectively is in the community colleges. $5,000 there is more than enough to pay for tuition and supplies. There are generally community colleges within commuter distance of most people, so room and board are not necessarily a needed expense.

Many students I have known have done their first two years of a four-year degree at a community college and then transferred to a state university for their last two years. The school where you get your degree is more important in the job market than the school where you started, so the community college can be very modest.

State universities cost more than community colleges, but they are less than a lot of comparable private schools and universities. Then there are the "public ivies," like UNC-Chapel Hill and Miami of Ohio, which are considered competitive with the best, most expensive schools.

Student loans may still be necessary in the last two years at a state school but at least you will be paying back less, accumulated over less time, than you would any other way.



[edit on 27-3-2010 by Sestias]

This isn't a great thing. OUR COUNTRY IS BROKE! Student aid is a racket anyways. Why do you think college tuition has sky rocketed? Because fo all the free money higher education receives. How the hell do you think they build all these fancy dorms, and why do you think professors get paid over 6 figures with tenure and great benefits. Look if the governemnt would get out of the business of providing easy money in the first place tuition would come down. Education is not a natural right, plus it's already dumbed down as it is. It's a priviledge. College is just a factory that churns out good little boys and girls to work for corporate America. Sorry but the middle class are the ones who will be footing the bill for this in taxes. I'm middle class and I took out a private loan to go to school. My parents made $40K each and I NEVER qualified for a pell grant let alone even a subsidized government loan. I had to take out a loan through Citibank of all places! SO NO I DONT WANT TO PAY FOR KIDS TO GO TO COLLEGE! Just give me more of my taxes back and I'll SAVE for my own kids to go to college. I don't need the f'ing government's help.

[edit on 27-3-2010 by Zosynspiracy]