A Race To The Top To Bring Down College Costs?

I have a column at TIME this morning about why Obama’s college plans matter and why even though it’s an election year it’s worth paying attention:

Let’s cut right to the chase — I have about the same chance of being picked up by the Boston Red Sox as a utility player as President Obama does of having his proposals to control college costs get through Congress this year. But looking at what the President proposed on Friday (in a raucous speech at the University of Michigan) through the lens of short-term Capitol Hill feasibility misses the significance of what Obama is up to. Just a few years ago, the ideas the President hinted at in last week’s State of the Union and is now describing in more depth were considered fringe topics, basically the province of a few wonks and reform-minded policymakers. Talk of improving productivity in higher education bordered on blasphemy. Now the President of the United States is on board.

It’s cost-free to read the entire column at TIME via this link.

One Reply to “A Race To The Top To Bring Down College Costs?”

  1. It seems to me one of the major sources of the rising costs of tuition is extensive financial aid. Financial aid seems to contribute to the tutiton raise in the same manner as the mortgages given indiscriminately in the earlier part of this decade contributed to inflated housing prices and the eventual collapse of the housing market. Just as people who couldn’t afford a larger house would buy a smaller one, those who couldn’t afford an expensive university will find one that is more cost effective. While financial aid has been extremely vital in giving higher education to all, it’s continued response of increasing its loans to the demand of universities tuition raises needs to be reevaluated. An abrupt response may hurt some in the short term but seems necessary for the long haul.

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