Another Good Step in Making Higher Ed more Accessible

Obviously education is very important, as we can't have a prosperous country without educated people. It's a new reality out there, so we better do something today--to invest for our future. If anything this country stood for, it was equality--equality in front of the law, and equality of opportunity.

Higher education should be easily accessible to all Americans, but how do you do that? One way is to make it less costly, or, at least, make it affordable. Congress did the right thing by passing a $20 billion bill that will boost student aid. President Bush is expected to sign it into law soon. This is the biggest tuition assistance since WW II.

You can click the link [in the title above, and here] for more information. Essentially, this new legislation raises the maximum PELL grant for low-income students from $4,050 to $5,400, and temporarily slashes interest rates on student loans by half.

It also establishes debt-forgiveness programs for graduates who enter certain poorly paid fields such as law enforcement, firefighting, and teaching. According to the Department of Education, the average student now graduates with $19,000 in debt.

The new aid would be funded by a massive cut in subsidies to the scandal-plagued private student loan industry.