Posted on 01/20/2007 2:33:10 PM PST by Right_at_RiceU
ongress helps college students with loan relief
By The Rice Thresher Editorial Staff | Thresher Editorial Staff
Given a lack of monetary influence, college students are an oft-ignored demographic in the policy making process. That is why we are so glad to see that one of the 110th Congress’ first moves was a bipartisan supported bill to lower interest rates on need-based student loans.
H.R. 5, The College Student Relief Act of 2007, will lower interest rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over the next 5 years. Once fully implemented, this step will save the average borrower — students who receive $13,800 in need-based loans — $4,420. At a time when tuition and fees are skyrocketing at Rice and across the country, we should support any step that will ensure students who want to go to college can go to college.
This interest reduction is not free — it has an expected cost of $5.9 billion. But most of the cost will be recouped by a slight reduction in the guaranteed rate that the top 1 percent of private lenders receive on federal loans — a step that financial analysts at Citigroup have deemed “manageable.”
Unfortunately, Rice’s own representative, John Culberson, was one of only 71 representatives to vote against the bill.So when Culberson comes to campus for a town hall meeting Feb. 22, let’s urge him to represent Rice by helping Congress expand Pell Grant scholarships. After all, today’s college students are tomorrow’s campaign contributors.
Well, I guess the average tuition just went up $4,420.
An Island Called Liberty
Dr. Suess meets Ayn Rand
Inside is a story of a right friendly land,
Where people were quick to lend a free hand.
With the best of intentions they passed many laws,
To fix what they felt were quite fixable flaws.
But the fixes, they found, were too much in the end,
For the bureaus and programs and taxes they penned.
Once the lessons were learned, here’s what they knew:
The contentment of many can’t come from the few.
Gee, what a surprise. More subsidies.
The only sensible people on most campuses, are economists (the economics faculty)...
The professors would like to give a special thanks to the useful idiots in Washington.
Even if they SHOULDN'T go to college! /s
The students STILL won't pay back their loans.
I dont those college students looked at the details. The loan relief does not apply to undergraduates and it is only a 6 month loan relief.
My daughter is only 13, what in the world will it cost by the time she goes to college?
And we have been saving since she was born.
Bingo! Also, student loans are fixed rate upon consolidation, so the represent one of the best bargains going especially when interest rates are historically low. This is a feel-good measure at best and as grut says, will simply enable colleges to raise tuition rates as the ability to pay firmula cranks inthe lower repayment rates. Chalk this one up as a gift by the RATs to their NEA buddies and liberal elites.
Let's also look at what states are doing with their pre-paid tuition plans. Suddenly there are no more tuntion hikes but new fees that fall outside the plan's coverage. Florida is looking at a $500 per semester "fee" so suddenly you need to come up with another $4,000 when you thought you were already fully paid. Who knows how high those "fees" will climb. Try that in private business to circumvent a contract and see how far you'd get.
$4,420 PLUS the increases necessary to cover the new minimum wage.
It's also why we get periodic news stories like this:
"Despite having a degree in Dystonic Gender Queer Studies from Rice University, Suzy was only able to get a job at WalMart, and was laid off by those cruel homophobic capitalists, for just a few incidents of tardiness and absenteeism."
Not to mention the ever-popular,
"After earning his PhD in Late Medieval Basket-Weaving at the University of Minnesota, Neville looked forward to job as a professor, sharing his advanced academic knowledge with youth thirsting for same. But there are only eleven basket-weaving professorships in the world, and they are all filled. Since being a tenured professor is functionally about the same as being retired but with a really sweet paycheck, none of them plans to retire; Neville has to wait for a basket-weaving authority to die.So he lives as a tutor, subsisting entirely on Ramen noodles; only on Sunday can he splurge on a can of Alpo.
'I blame George Bush,' Neville mutters, as he wonders whether he'll ever be able to take a trip to Europe to conduct post-doctoral research at the renowned Basket Museum of Reims. His unpaid student loans hang like a sword of Damocles over his head."
Perhaps degrees are a marker for intellect, but these days I'd say they're an inverse marker (oh dear, what does that say about me?)
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
The worst thing college bound students can do is fill out the gov't form for financial assistance. All you get is an offer for student loans and you have told the gov't and schools how much you and your parents have to spend on college. They can't get the wealth info from the IRS or any census data.
All the lower interest rate will do is raise the tuition as students can afford to borrow more. The gov't subsidizes student loan rates to the lending institution to guarantee them market rate income from the loan. Our taxes pay for this so the Dems make it look like they have done something to lower costs when they actually have made it more expensive for all of us.
I agree. What tax relief it the tuition goes up?
I'm all for assisting WORTHY students with their education.As long as they actually study and achieve good grades.I'm also for the idea of collecting on those loans when they are due-no exceptions.
Former president Bill Clinton to speak at Baker Institute
By Grace Ng · For the first time since 2000 -- when George H.W. Bush spoke at commencement -- a former president will give a lecture at Rice. Bill Clinton will speak in Stude Concert Hall Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. A question-and-answer session will follow the speech.
Colleges and universities recognize that as the loan costs are reduced, students will pay less for the money it costs to get an education. As a result, institutions of "higher learning" are raising tuition costs so they can make more money to indoctrinate high school graduates with more socialist ca-ca!
Woo hoo!!!
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