Option #9: An excellent education for all students

submitted by JCballaballa

Using 500 billion dollars to fund an excellent education for all students. According to a house of Representatives press release on hr 609, the U.S. govt spends 70 billion dollars on aid to students seeking higher education, yet this is still not enough to make sure students from poor and middle class families get enough financial help to get into college.

  Here's a few sentences from one of the congressional committees who try to deal with assisting students trying to get to college. But my own hunch is that if 70 billion is not enough, then increasing the amount 2 fold would be just what would be needed to help all poor and middle class students get into college. So that would be 140 billion dollars, leaving about 360 billion dollars for pre-k to 12th grade, union apprenticeships, and community colleges. Also, remember the G.I. Bill for education. Maybe there could be more money for education through the Veterans dept.

 

 

The Higher Education Act

Expanding College Access for Low and Middle-Income Students

 

The College Access & Opportunity Act (H.R. 609)

Bill Text of H.R. 609 - Rules Committee Print, March 22, 2006.(pdf)

Manager's Amendment (pdf)

Click here for bill summaries

 

In 1965, the Higher Education Act was established to help low and middle-income students pursue higher education.  Today, the federal government invests more than $70 billion in direct financial aid to students and families, and hundreds of millions of dollars are provided to colleges and universities so that they may better serve their students.  Yet many resources within the Higher Education Act have increasingly been diverted from their original purpose of expanding access for students, and troubling cost increases have made clear that America's higher education system is not accountable enough to its consumers -- students and parents.  In the 109th Congress, the Education & the Workforce Committee will work to reform the Higher Education Act through the principles of affordability, access, accountability, and quality, so that federal resources are once again focused on expanding college access for low and middle-income students.