It Always Comes Down to Politics.....

I've been known to make arguments that almost any opinion about education (what to teach, who should teach, who should learn, where should the learn, how much does it cost to learn, etc.) comes down to political ideology. Is higher education a right or a privilege? Who should pay for education? --I think it comes down to politics. So what exactly do these people say? I thought you'd never ask. Here is my summary of what some politicians believe or are trying to achieve:

1) Ron Paul, 2012 GOP Primary Candidate seems to think that higher education is a waste of money, that federal aid for higher education is failing, and he recommends cutting one trillion dollars from the federal budget, including education. He also mentioned that if he were president, he would cut federal loans entirely. I think it's interesting that Ron Paul sees the problem that students are one trillion dollars in debt (college loan debt), and decides the solution is to cut that amount of money from the federal budget. Hrmmm...so who exactly are you trying to help here? It's not those students who are the 99% that are suffering in debt, and it's not the students that actually need the aid for college. This is what I call a logic fail.

2) Herman Cain, 2012 GOP Primary Candidate thinks that aid for college should come from the state government and from communities, not from the federal government. It's interesting that he recommends that students who cannot afford institutions with high sticker prices should make "different choices as to the schools they go to," and says, "they might have to work a little harder." First of all, these students oftentimes DO choose community colleges and they still need that federal aid...and in my opinion, these students should be given more options other than just community colleges! Second, most of them are working harder - working part-time or even full-time and may even be supporting families. This, of course, means that they have less time to devote to their education - an education that they were already disadvantaged to from the beginning! Lastly, where exactly are the states and "communities" getting all this money from?

3) President Barack Obama has made a plan to lower interest rates for students who consolidate under the government's Direct Loan program, and will allow low-income earners a reduction in their payments. While I do see both of these opportunities to be good things, I just don't think they are enough. I do not think it is realistic to demand the government do a college loan bail-out, I kind of think the people are owed this since the government bailed out the banks! Surely if you can bail out the banks you can bail out your own citizens! No? I think these options are steps in the right direction, but there needs to be more done. I really hope this wasn't just a small something Obama could do to gain votes from people...I hope this is a sign that the current administration is aware of the problem of college debt and that even more options will be forthcoming. Here's to hope.