At one time, it might have been doable. Not necessarily without effort, but nevertheless doable. My college took a little planning, but my four years at the public university (University of Michigan) was something that didn't break me or my parents. We took out no loans. I qualified for the State Merit Scholarship and my Dad refused to apply, feeling he would rather us do it own our own. I held summer jobs, including night shift at a pickle factory and a summer at a GM plant. I did not work during the school year, my Dad preferring I concentrate on my studies. I did not own a car until my Senior year (needing it to get to student teaching). I lived in the dorm all four years. But I got my degree with no debt, for myself or my parents.
My older sons, Greg and Doug, had to be more creative. They went in the early to mid 2000s. Doug was a Hope Scholarship student, a scholarship he maintained throughout his four years at the University of Georgia. Both boys worked starting in their high school years, and maintained that throughout their schooling, even during the school year. I wasn't very happy about that, but times had changed and it was going to be impossible to achieve without that. Doug even got a paying internship with Johnson & Johnson his last two years. They got some money from myself and their mother, Greg more so than Doug, simply because Greg did not have a scholarship. Frankly, as hard as Greg worked to be in school, he would not have been able to stay there at Savannah College of Art & Design if his mother did not have deep pockets.
Now Doug is going to graduate school, and Greg has an excellent job editing television in California. I am extremely proud of both of them. And neither has the ball and chain of large college debt.
But all that is now changing. College is much more expensive than it was, even just dating back to the mid-2000s. Tuition has accelerated to astronomical levels. The Republicans in the Georgia legislature are gleefully chopping away at the one thing that makes Georgia special - the Hope Scholarship. Student loan debt nationally now exceeds credit card debt And the Republicans in Congress would like to see the interest rate allowed on student loans to double - unless of course, the government gives up preventative care funds for women's and children's health. Snidely Whiplash is alive and well and has taken up residence in the American legislatures.
You can no longer work your way through college. Only if your parents are wealthy (very wealthy, indeed), or you get one of a dwindling number of full scholarships (by the by, Republicans also wish to massacre the number of Pell grants offered), can you go to school without incurring massive debt. I'm very worried about Benjamin going to college. He is very smart, with very good grades. He will work to earn money for school. We have a 529 plan for him. Even with all that, with the current trajectory of college tuition, and the continued reign of short-sighted reactionary Republican leadership, I worry if we'll be able to afford for him to go. And if he does go, if he will have a ball and chain around him that he will haunt him for the rest of his life.
So what are our solutions? Ultimately, higher education should be relatively free, like it is many other more civilized countries. Probably won't happen here. So what else? Student loans should be offered without interest at all - if we can't invest at least that much into our future, maybe we don't deserve to have one. Pell grants should be increased, not decreased. The Georgia Hope Scholarship needs to be strengthened not weakened - perhaps it needs to become a regular part of the budget instead of based on how much people are willing to gamble in the lottery.
Something needs to be done to control the runaway cost of schooling, particularly public universities and community colleges. Whether it's government subsidies, capping pay increases to cost of living/inflation, revising pension plans, dramatically changing technological delivery of education - all this needs to be looked into - both liberal and conservative solutions.
It is ironic that at a time when higher education is a more and more of necessity, that it is becoming more and more of a luxury in it's pricing and public support. I welcome all thoughts from across the political spectrum. What can we do to make a decent post-secondary education affordable again?
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