Let's Educate Our Finest
It is evident that US advances in the sciences, mathematics and medicine underpin America’s future. The environment, energy, our wellness and job creation are all interdependent. Both business and government site statistics that our universities are not graduating enough students in these science-based disciplines to meet our near term or future needs.
The solution seems obvious. Continue to import talent until we are self-sufficient. The HB1 program, which gives foreigners with these academic credentials a preferential place in our immigration line, is sound policy. But the HB1 program is a band-aid.
Currently the US government spends nearly $60 billion each year on Pell Grants, and provides $69 billion in student loans. Let’s pretend we have enough attorneys and convert about 20% of the $60 billion dollars spent on Pell grants into full scholarships for our best and brightest in the fields of science, math and medicine.
Academic prowess should be the sole factor in determining eligibility. Student records and SAT scores simplify the process of identifying the young people with the most potential. Each calendar year, let’s provide the top 10,000 American students four year scholarships, with the option of receiving grants for two years of post-graduate study. They can attend the school(s) of their choice.
Set the grant per year, indexed to inflation, at $30,000. Universities accepting these students will agree that this sum covers tuition, books, room and board. This would include any summer school programs. Those universities that claim they cannot afford to educate America’s best and brightest engineering, science, medical and math students at this price, have the option not to participate.
In the sixth year, the program’s annual cost would be under $11 billion, assuming every eligible student elects to continue his/her education for six years. Using $11 billion to underwrite our future is a good investment. Scraping the rest of the Pell Grant program will also benefit all Americans.
The Higher Education Act, passed in 1965, inflated the cost of higher education to the outer edge of our constellation. It may have helped some of the nation’s poor, but it crucified the middle class. Our universities have engorged themselves on this revenue stream—by inflating tuitions to sop up as much revenue as the government is willing to underwrite.
Universities tell us the 35% increase in tuition in just the last five years is worth every penny. To whom, the graduates stuck with outrageous debt, or middle class families burdened with second mortgages, or those economically paralyzed by tuition costs?
All of America’s families will benefit if the artificial floor (Higher Education Act) protecting exorbitant tuitions was rescinded. Let the law of supply and demand determine pricing. Cancel the Pell grant and loan programs.
Without the $49 billion in Pell grants and $69 billion in loans inflating the cost of tuition, the cost of education would plummet. Universities would be forced to adjust tuitions downward to accommodate the financial elasticity of American family incomes, or face empty classrooms.
Taxes could be reduced over $49 billion a year. Or Congress could toss a bone to America’s families by providing a tax credit—not to be confused with a measly deduction—for the interest families pay on student loans.
The solution seems obvious. Continue to import talent until we are self-sufficient. The HB1 program, which gives foreigners with these academic credentials a preferential place in our immigration line, is sound policy. But the HB1 program is a band-aid.
Currently the US government spends nearly $60 billion each year on Pell Grants, and provides $69 billion in student loans. Let’s pretend we have enough attorneys and convert about 20% of the $60 billion dollars spent on Pell grants into full scholarships for our best and brightest in the fields of science, math and medicine.
Academic prowess should be the sole factor in determining eligibility. Student records and SAT scores simplify the process of identifying the young people with the most potential. Each calendar year, let’s provide the top 10,000 American students four year scholarships, with the option of receiving grants for two years of post-graduate study. They can attend the school(s) of their choice.
Set the grant per year, indexed to inflation, at $30,000. Universities accepting these students will agree that this sum covers tuition, books, room and board. This would include any summer school programs. Those universities that claim they cannot afford to educate America’s best and brightest engineering, science, medical and math students at this price, have the option not to participate.
In the sixth year, the program’s annual cost would be under $11 billion, assuming every eligible student elects to continue his/her education for six years. Using $11 billion to underwrite our future is a good investment. Scraping the rest of the Pell Grant program will also benefit all Americans.
The Higher Education Act, passed in 1965, inflated the cost of higher education to the outer edge of our constellation. It may have helped some of the nation’s poor, but it crucified the middle class. Our universities have engorged themselves on this revenue stream—by inflating tuitions to sop up as much revenue as the government is willing to underwrite.
Universities tell us the 35% increase in tuition in just the last five years is worth every penny. To whom, the graduates stuck with outrageous debt, or middle class families burdened with second mortgages, or those economically paralyzed by tuition costs?
All of America’s families will benefit if the artificial floor (Higher Education Act) protecting exorbitant tuitions was rescinded. Let the law of supply and demand determine pricing. Cancel the Pell grant and loan programs.
Without the $49 billion in Pell grants and $69 billion in loans inflating the cost of tuition, the cost of education would plummet. Universities would be forced to adjust tuitions downward to accommodate the financial elasticity of American family incomes, or face empty classrooms.
Taxes could be reduced over $49 billion a year. Or Congress could toss a bone to America’s families by providing a tax credit—not to be confused with a measly deduction—for the interest families pay on student loans.
Labels: Education, mathematics, medicine, science
posted by David at
7:10 AM
