Jessica Shawcroft
The Paw Print
President Barak Obama has a plan to help lower the cost of college! The goal here is to provide students at higher rated schools less expensive loans or bigger grants. President Barack Obama is proposing to change the federal student aid programs to help struggling college students through their education.
Many schools face losing their federal financial aid for students if the Education Department decides they aren’t doing enough to control their costs. These schools also must prove that they’re providing a quality education and that they keep their doors open to students from low income families. Mr. Obama wants to provide schools with a higher rating and more money; the rates are based off of what they achieve and the percentage of students who graduate. Schools are rewarded for keeping costs low and supporting students from low-income families; if the school is helping these students earn their degree then they’ll receive more money.
An important factor to this proposal is schools wouldn’t necessarily have to compete with each other. Instead schools will be judged against similar ranking schools. Some of the plan isn’t well defined; for instance, the ratings would take into account schools that enroll students from poorer families and show improvement through those selected students. This success could depend upon the students major and it isn’t clear how the rating would account for the different programs and general studies.
Some programs can be highly selective and require interview processes. While the student is accepted into the college, they may not be accepted into their desired degree plan. How would this play into it? If the student can’t get into their desired degree plan and drops out of the college, how would that affect the college’s grade?
Are selective degree plans going to have to accept everyone and change their standards? Mr. Obama wants to begin rating the colleges before the 2015 academic year. He wants to determine the eligibility of the schools by 2018. $1 billion dollars would be going into this program. These funds are to be an incentive for states to maintain their education. The college can earn a bonus if they enroll a larger number of low income students. If the college declines the program, federal student aid will be cut or denied to that particular school.
I had some questions while reading this article. One thing I noted was the $1 billion is an incentive to the states to keep up their higher education programs. A lot of states are cutting the funding to their education programs. If they can’t provide proper funding to keep up their education, are they still eligible? What would happen to the students of higher income families? Mr. Obama’s plan is to provide students at higher ranking schools less expensive loans. What if a lower income student attends a school that doesn’t rank as high quality? If a student’s family ranks middle class but the family doesn’t help the student pay for college, what does the student do?
The student doesn’t qualify for financial aid because of their family’s status, regardless of the fact that the family isn’t helping them. What if the college the student attends doesn’t accept the program?
The student would be denied financial aid and wouldn’t be able to receive a loan for school. Will this program really help students pay for college? Or are we neglecting to think about others in need?
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