Tyler Reed | Contributing Writer
Buena Vista University (BVU) envelopes arrive in our mailboxes every August. Most know what this means: summer is coming to an end and tuition is due. It often seems that as tuition rises, financial aid does not keep the same pace. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, tuition and fees have been rising “72 percent above inflation over the past decade” at colleges and universities in our nation. To finance shortfalls, students have increased borrowing to historic levels. Some students feel they’re on their financial last breath.
With the Republican National Convention behind us and the Democratic National Convention ahead, now is the time to ask, where do our leaders stand? Are we going to continue to extend and protect Pell Grants? Should we vote for Romney/Ryan and yank education off the spigot? There are questions to ask and a decision to be made, indeed.
Sparring over college students’ votes, President Obama has stated he would like to preserve and extend Pell Grants, extend his Race to The Top Initiative to post-secondary education, and continue tuition tax credits. Under Romney/Ryan, Pell Grants are capped at their current rate for a decade. Rep. Ryan supported the doubling of student loan interest rates. Tough luck dealing with the slightest inflation in the decade ahead, I guess.
The Romney/Ryan ticket plans to essentially refuse federal dollars to education institutes. They, politicians not educators, deem to be excessive. Of course as customary, the Romney/Ryan plan includes few details. BVU prides itself on the opportunities it can provide because of its shrewd financial management. Indeed, it shows. With considerably reduced federal funding to students, thus less income, something has to give. What will then show?
Last semester, a BVU magazine sent to my household proclaimed faculty as the “driving force” behind institutional excellence. Perhaps Gov. Romney will repeat to professors, “…What I’m going to tell you is shop around” in regards to their career choice or advancement. If we cut the bottom off education, where will professors be driven? Do they not have a stake in turning around our local, regional and national economies?
My father is a sales consultant, and my mother is a seasonal worker. I’m no fortunate son. “Borrow from your parents” isn’t going to be a workable solution for long. I’m not alone. Neither I, nor many of my colleagues want a handout. What we want is the opportunity to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. We’re willing to blaze a trail. First, though, we need good boots. Education?
