Tens of Thousands Will Lose College Aid, Report Says

[lanlady]

More Bushevik accounting:

The first report to document the impact of the government's new formula for financial aid has found that it will reduce the nation's largest grant program by $270 million and bar 84,000 college students from receiving any award at all.

The report, by the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of Congress, does not calculate the full effect of the changes, since it does not consider the further cuts in student awards that will probably occur once the new formula is applied to billions of dollars in state awards and university grants.

But it does settle some uncertainty over the initial consequences of altering the intricate federal formula that governs the vast majority of the nation's financial aid....

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/18/national/18GRAN.html?hp

[Fovea]

Why not just burn down the state colleges?

Then they won't have to worry about it, only the aristocracy will get college education.

[mbperrin]

3. You forgot

the junior colleges; + tear up those pesky "on-line" classes; a bunch of jerks using the Internet are the only ones who use them!

And thank God the recession was over in 2001!

</Ann Coulter channeling>

[ikojo]

24. Class and college education

This is exactly what will happen. There will be a class of well educated and wealthy elites and a class of less educated working people.

People say that one can work and go to college. I come for a purely working-class family and was the first one in my family to attend college. I tried to work while going to school and found it too difficult to pay for tuition, rent (living at home was not an option because my mom moved out of state shortly after I started college), food and books. I quit because I freakin' got tired of going hungry which was a regular occurance. FYI, I just paid off my student loans from the early to mid 1980s so I know about debt.

In the early 1990s when I had a job that paid a bit above minimum wage I tried again to take night classes while working. The impediment then was the fact that the company for which I worked required 30 hours a month of MANDATORY overtime. I would start work at 630 in the morning and work until 500PM in the evening. I then went to class until 930 or 1000PM at night. I was EXHAUSTED! After months of trying this and becoming more depressed I changed from receiving a grade to auditing the class, that way I would not have to do the required two term papers.

I have not made another attempt at attending college while working a full time job since the early 90s. There is not nearly as much overtime at my current job but as a result I don't have as much money to pay tuition. It is a catch 22 situation. Welcome to how class is played out in America.

Yeah there are Horatio Alger stories but they make the news because that is not the norm.

The lack of a degree does not connote a lack of education.

[SpiralHawk]

1. "All your higher edumacated minds are belong to me."

- From "The Sayings of Chairman* G. AWOL Bush"

[SpiralHawk]

2. "All your higher edumacated minds are belong to me."

- From "The Sayings of Chairman* G. AWOL Bush"

[chrisesq]

Its part of an overall plan

1. Bar the less than affluent from attending college.

2. The poor stay ignorant and unable to think critically.

3. They will then, of course, believe any load of crap that you throw at them.

4. Thus, they will be more likely to vote Republican.

This was tongue in cheek. Still, can someone tell me how its a good thing to keep our population stupid?

[chadm]

9. You've pretty much nailed it.

Our schools are failing because that's the plan.

[chrisesq]

4. Its part of an overall plan

1. Bar the less than affluent from attending college.

2. The poor stay ignorant and unable to think critically.

3. They will then, of course, believe any load of crap that you throw at them.

4. Thus, they will be more likely to vote Republican.

This was tongue in cheek. Still, can someone tell me how its a good thing to keep our population stupid?

[Maddy McCall]

20. Excellent post...and you forgot

that by keeping the "unwashed masses" uneducated, they present no job-market competition for the kids of these anti-ed Republicans' kids.

It is a sense of entitlement that the rich alone feel they own. It is a way to preserve a strictly divided class system in the US--to limit upward mobility of the poor.

Fuck bush and the republicans.

[prolesunited]

It's an armed services recruiting strategy

Drastically reduce the number of jobs available, make education unaffordable for most and doesn't that make joining the military much more attractive? What other opportunities are available? Well, if you survive our corporate, profit-driven war, then maybe we'll let you have an education. It's the ultimate game of "Survivor."

They really do want to roll the U.S. back to the early 19th century.

[prolesunited]

5. It's an armed services recruiting strategy

Drastically reduce the number of jobs available, make education unaffordable for most and doesn't that make joining the military much more attractive? What other opportunities are available? Well, if you survive our corporate, profit-driven war, then maybe we'll let you have an education. It's the ultimate game of "Survivor."

They really do want to roll the U.S. back to the early 19th century.

[LizW]

6. Makes the Army recruiters' job easier

thus creating more Jessica Lynchs - kids who want a better life and whose only hope for college is to do a stint as cannon fodder first and hope they survive.

Edited to say: You beat me to it, prolesunited.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. The next step in a long process

Back in the golden age of financial aid, the 1960s and 1970s, there was a lot of financial aid for college students, not to mention the fact that tuition was more affordable. There were quite a few outright grants and forgivable loans. (The NDSL loans were 50% forgiven if you spent 5 years as a schoolteacher, Peace Corps or Vista volunteer, or military personnel, and 100% forgiven if you taught 5 years in a district that was eligible for anti-poverty funds.)

I did my Japanese language training under the NDFL Fellowship Progam, which gave "free rides" to graduate-level students of non-European languages. I subsequently entered a graduate level program in linguistics, so the next three years were fully funded by a National Science Foundation fellowship, which provided all tuition and fees and an above-average living allowance.

Those days are gone. The programs disappeared one by one under Nixon and Ford, and then when Reagan came in, all direct grants and forgivable loans for undergraduates disappeared, except the meagre Pell Grants.

At the same time, the govt. began running full-page ads in college newspapers touting free tuition and books and a living allowance for ROTC students.

Not a coincidence.

[sam sarrha]

8. just like his hero Ronnie Raygun...

i was a junior when Raygun was elected governor of CA, college was free.!!!!!!!! two months later all grants and loans were canceled, the education systenm still has not recovered. then i saved enought to go back to college and he was elected president!!!! same thing happened....i came from a poor family only my mother, my brother and myself ever got high school diplomas, i am severely dyslexic with an IQ of 164 and read at a 6th grade level, college was hell but i worked hard and had a 3.4 gpa. now at 54 with no degree i am vertually unemployable, and actually have been unemployed for some time, 3 months ago my wifes career of 20 years got Globalized, we were making 75,000 a year..since the chimp..0

[Heddi]

10. well that's just fugging great!

I'm a ft nursing student.

My husband earns the only income for our household---about $28k after taxes.

The government feels that I only need $647 per quarter (once every 3 months) to live off of, pay tution off of, buy books off of, pay for gas off of, buy school supplies off of, etc.

Considering that tuition itself is $750...books for this one quarter cost $250 PLUS another $100 for lab packets, supplies, etc.....

Most of the kids I go to school with are getting financial aid. 5 years ago, they wouldn't have had to because both of their parents would have had jobs that could have paid for the majority, if not all, of their child's schooling.

That's not the case anymore.

Most of the adults I go to school with are on financial aid as well because they lost their jobs and can't afford to pay out-of-pocket to go to school and get retrained in a viable career.

I go to school with a single mother of 2 elementary school aged children. Their father pays no support, her job was eliminated, and she's on unemployment, and getting less financial aid than I am.

5 years ago when I was in school the first time, our household had the same post-tax income, and in addition to getting student loans, I also got Pell Grants and another grant of some kind.....since I've re-started school in January, I'm no longer eligible for ANY grants and only eligible for limited loans.

They're doing their best to ensure our nation is filled with as many undereducated, underemployed people as possible

[frustrated_lefty]

22. Couple of thoughts for you, Heddi

Cash-strapped students are going to face increasing difficulties in the coming years. I don't envy your position, but wanted to suggest a few ideas which may help with your situation.

Keep an eye open for research studies within your institution looking for "volunteers." Some of them can pay very well for minimal time invested. I made $220 donating bone marrow, which required a grand total of 20 minutes. Another $300 for participating in a pain study which involved about 8 hours over 4 months. And a bunch of $50 increments here and there for short term studies. They generally aren't fun experiences, but it's quick money which can help you get through the month while trying to complete your education. Because you're a nursing student, you're probably attending classes in the very buildings where the studies are done, or are at the very least near them.

You might want to consider part-time employment as a student-worker in a lab. The pay is lousy, but if you do a good job you can often be bumped up to a part-time "lab technician," which pays better, has flexible hours, and may provide you with an opportunity to acquire skills which may be of benefit in your future career.

I agree, ShrubCo is doing its best to reserve education as a privilege for the "elite." It's our job to stop them. I wish you luck in your education, and merely offer suggestions in hopes they will be of benefit if you find yourself in a financial bind.

[damnraddem]

11. This at a time when tuition is being boosted ...

because of state fiscal meltdown due to the Dubya economy and the Dubya tax cuts that took away any federal funds to help the states.

[lebkuchen]

12. They can work at McDonald's and make up the difference

Right, Don? :)

[wellst0nev0ter]

13. I checked, they're not hiring

eom

[progressivebydesign]

16. Funny you should mention that.. a cautionary tale..

My stepdaughter worked her way through 2 years of community college, working at McDonald's full time, carrying a full load of classes. Her goal was to transfer to a university as a junior. She thought, since we could not afford to send her to college, nor support her while she attended, that this would be the most practical way to do it. We agreed.

BUT..

When she applied for financial aid to attend the university full time, without the burden of working at McDonalds to support herself, she was turned down. Flat. It turns out, that any money a college student earns, is counted against them at at least 70% of each dollar of aid. With her income, she was turned down for everything, including work-study. We can barely survive on our money, she couldn't afford to go to school without working full time, so we're taking out loans for her education now.

The moral of this story? Think like the government thinks. If you want to go to college, apply for aid right out of high school, don't be a responsible person and try to support yourself while you go to school, unless you plan on somehow doing that while carrying a full university level load of classes. Oddly enough.. my sister-in-law and her wealthy husband, got financial aid for their daughter to go to Loyola, pre-law. How does the middle class always end up getting screwed? We're not poor enough, yet rich enough. That is why Bill Clinton won so convincingly.. he appealed to the middle people.

[Fovea]

14. The long term education strategy of the Republican Party

Ignorance as a system of social control.

[geomon]

23. Partly correct.

The other half of the equation is privatization of all levels of education in the USA. The poor will be forced ( compulsory attendance ) to go to school (of 'choice' hahahaha) which will be private and most likely religious.

The end result will be capitalistic schools who turn out capitalists and religious schools which turn out fundamentalists....the ultimate horror for the world.

The USA is becoming the true Axis of evil. (capitalism+religion=the antichrist)

No wonder that I wish for someone to liberate us.

If you think voting will solve this problem then we are truly fucked.

[shanti]

15. more college dropouts

so more fodder for the military...my son was a victim of this and is now in the air force.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

17. Leave no child behind.

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on you elitist lying chickenhawk moron!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:mad::argh::hurts::spank::grr:

[jbm]

18. interesting article...

on why it pays to keep the people uneducated.


http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm

[Rex]

19. The Repukes want to send us back into the Dark Ages

Next up on the chopping block - libraries, spawning ground of the non-rich (read:threat) critical thinker!!! Can't have that!

[fortyfeetunder]

21. Those who lose grants, keep in mind Nov. 04

Not sure how many of those 84,000 people who were disqualified were old enough to vote, but I venture to guess about 75% are. So I hope most of these people think about this come the Presidential elections in Nov 04, vote for someone who really gives a crap about education, unlike this educated fool who was selected last time.

[Corgigal]

25. My daughter

Just got her Associates degree last term. Since it's getting harder to pick up the extra funds left over we suggested that she goes into Americorp to pay back some of her loans( the kids get 5 grand taken off the total) and at the same time do something good for society.
We are finishing up the paperwork now and we actually are lucky enough to know someone inside this fine organization but now the Republicans and Bush are cutting Americorp too.

Evil assholes.