The cost of college

After the media vacuum of the political conventions, students might feel a bit worn out from election politics.

It can be hard to face the barrage of campaign entertainment, half-truths, distortions and the focus on issues you might not care about.

But one thing that was evidently important to candidates at both conventions and is likely of equal, if not greater, importance to college students everywhere is the cost of attaining a higher education.

Republican Candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama have both promised they understand and empathize with the plight of debt-loaded students.

Investing in education was a common theme for many DNC speakers, and Obama declared, “No family should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don’t have the money.”

Romney also emphasized the disappointing position many college students find themselves in when they graduate and realize they mistakenly “thought they’d have a good job by now ... and that they could start paying back some of their loans.”

Although both recognize the common problem, Obama and Romney unsurprisingly diverge on what they believe the appropriate response to be.

In 2010, Obama revamped student loan programs.

Beginning in 2014, new loan recipients will pay back no more than 10 percent of their disposable income each year.

Discussions to extend this program to current students are underway.
In addition, after 20 years, remaining debt will be forgiven.

If you’re in a public-service profession like teaching or nursing, your debt can be forgiven after 10 years as long as your payments have been on time.

Obama has indicated he would like to increase Pell Grants and extend the $2,500 college tuition tax credit set to expire at the end of this year. In his DNC speech, he called for cutting the rate of tuition increases in half during the next decade.

One way this would occur is through programs that reward states that put college pricing changes in effect and provide stable college funding.

Critics have said Obama’s plans don’t involve enough funding to bring college tuition levels down as much as Obama would like.

Romney’s position is not as clear and is complicated by his vice-presidential choice.
The Vice Presidential Candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., budget plan calls for kicking 1 million students off of Pell Grants, but Romney has said he supports extending the rate cut for loans.

A paper Romney published in May said he would end duplicative federal financial aid programs, make sure Pell Grants go to those who need them most and, overall, “tackle this challenge by making clear that the federal government will no longer write a blank check to universities to reward their tuition increases.”

Romney would like to bring private lenders back into the federal student loan market.
Obama’s reforms all required that the government issue all federal student loans.
Romney and Obama both recognize the high costs of college and resulting debt are problems that hurt all of America’s students.

This November, consider which candidate you think will offer the best educational reform policy. Get out to vote on an issue that directly affects you.

­— gwinslow@indiana.edu