I'm very pleased to see the aid to college students- and that's aid that makes long term sense. If you want people around who have jobs decent enough to pay off some of our massive debt, you might as well invest now in college students.
While you can't always be sure you'll get money back on the poor and huddled masses, you can be pretty sure you'll eventually be able to tax someone with a college degree:
WHO GETS WHAT: Billions to colleges and students
By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer Justin Pope, Ap Education Writer – 2 hrs 12 mins ago
DURHAM, N.C. – The stimulus plan emerging in Washington could offer an unprecedented, multibillion-dollar boost in financial help for college students trying to pursue a degree while they ride out the recession.
It could also hand out billions to the states to kick-start idled campus construction projects and help prevent tuition increases at a time when families can least afford them.
But cuts of $40 billion for state and local governments in the Senate version were a big disappointment for college leaders. House-Senate negotiations will determine whether education aid to the states is relatively modest or massive — and how much gets directed to high-need institutions for building projects, versus elite universities that would benefit if the final package spends more of the money on scientific research.
Students are big winners. Both the House and Senate bills call for the largest-ever funding increase for Pell Grants, the government's chief college aid program for low-income students.
It will take much of the proposed $15.6 billion increase in the House version (slightly less in the Senate) just to erase the existing funding shortfall and meet the surging demand as the economy sours and more students enroll.
But the package would also increase next year's maximum award by up to $500, to $5,350, starting July 1. That's the biggest increase in history and would cover three-quarters of the cost of the average public four-year college.
Most Pell recipients come from families earning less than $40,000. And supporters note the new Pell dollars would be spent almost immediately — students can't save them — while also paying off down the road.
"Long-term, if we want a better economy, we need more people going to college," Education Arne Duncan told The Associated Press last week.
College leaders meeting in Washington this week for the American Council on Education's annual meeting will be grateful for the student aid boost. But they'll be closely watching how Congress bridges the huge gaps between how much the House and Senate versions propose spending to bail out state budgets and prevent drastic education cuts.
The House bills calls for $79 billion to prevent cuts to local school districts and public higher education. But it's not yet clear how the money might be divided between K-12 and higher education, and a portion could go to things besides education. The Senate version calls for $39 billion.
Meanwhile, colleges are hoping Congress will agree restarting idled building projects is an efficient short- and long-term investment. As they lose revenues from state support, endowments and tuition, hundreds of projects are on hold nationwide, from a library extension at Fresno State to new dorms at Washington University in St. Louis and a biology lab at Yale.
The California State University system alone has halted 130 projects, which it values at $850 million and says account for 13,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the system may have to cut 10,000 enrollment slots.
The House bill has $6 billion for such projects, while the Senate has none.
"We're ready to go, there's great jobs involved, and we're educating kids who wouldn't have other opportunities if we weren't there," Chuck Middleton, president of Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago, said Sunday. His university has a $135 million new building with classrooms, labs, dorms and offices on hold after financing dried up. Construction could be under way in six months, he says, providing 600 jobs for two years while helping Roosevelt's diverse student body.
Also helping students, the House and Senate both call for expanding the Hope tuition tax credit from $1,800 to $2,500 and making it partly refundable. Now, almost half of families with children pay no income tax, so the current tuition tax-credit system doesn't help them (the full benefit kicks in for families earning at least $43,000).
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates the change could help 3.8 million students.
If the infrastructure spending survives, it would likely prioritize colleges with high minority enrollments, schools rebuilding from disasters like Hurricane Katrina, and energy-saving projects. It may also take steps to make sure community colleges get their fair share, and private colleges — such as Roosevelt — are hoping the final version will allocate some to their sector, too.
The money would be for academic facilities, and wouldn't go — directly at least — to things like gyms, food courts or chapels.
The House version calls for $1.5 billion for biomedical research facilities, while a Senate amendment set aside more than $6 billion in extra research money for the National Institutes of Health, among boosts to other research agencies. Those investments have long-term benefits, but it would take time to distribute them, and research universities would benefit most.
One other benefit notable for families: The Senate bill would also allow families to spend money from 529 college savings plans on computers.
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Stimulus would aid college students
President Barack Obama wants to make sure you can pay for college next year.
His financial stimulus package, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday by a vote of 244 to 188.
The $819 billion bill has a variety of measures aimed at bolstering the economy, but a large section is devoted specifically to financing education.
If enacted, the bill will increase the Pell Grant scholarship by $500. This brings the maximum award to $5,350 by next September and to $5,550 for 2010 - the highest amount ever.
Other parts of the proposal include a college tuition tax credit of $2,500 and the creation of new work-study positions for college students.
"We cannot let our whole education system collapse as the economy falters," said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor committee, in a press release Wednesday.
Randall Miller, a history professor and political analyst from St. Joseph's University, explained that the bill will help students in "several direct and many indirect ways."
The most direct benefit is making college more affordable for many Americans, he explained.
"What's important is that the government is trying to act progressively to fix the clog in the credit system," he said.
"Penn has a lot of resources, but public institutions are getting hammered and looking at a bleak picture because students can't get loans."
Another direct benefit higher education might see from the bill is further funding for infrastructure repair at educational institutions.
"There will be a nice chunk of change allocated for colleges to renovate their buildings," Miller said.
"Penn is on a rebuilding mania," he continued, "Philadelphia is doing cartwheels over it. If Penn can get in on the money offered by this bill, it could really get going with some more of these large-scale projects."
He stressed that the indirect benefits will be "just as significant - if not more so."
The legislation includes new policies to hold K-12 teachers more accountable, which will result in curriculum changes.
"Certainly within a year or two, we will feel these effects in changes to teacher training and recruitment," Miller added.
While he said it would be hard to predict specifically what the bill will do for Penn, Bill Andresen, associate vice president of federal affairs, noted it is "excellent for higher education in general."
"Besides freeing up money for student loans, we will see significant increases in research dollars, and Penn has traditionally been able to take money from those accounts," he said.
The bill will move on to the Senate on Monday, and, according to Andresen, "will hopefully be on the President's desk by President's Day."
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