confronting cost
The cost of college is a divisive issue in Congress. A political logjam forced interest rates on federal student loans to double on July 1 and new attempts for compromise failed yesterday.
But there are innovations in addressing student debt. The Oregon legislature gave preliminary approval to a bill that would allow students to attend state colleges without paying tuition or loans. Instead, they’d repay the state with a percentage of their future earnings.
This idea had roots in Boston.
More jobs were created last month than economists had expected, but the unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher ticked up slightly in June from 3.8 percent to 3.9 percent.
Despite that increase, the rate is much better than those with only a high school diploma, which continues to hover around the national average – at 7.6 percent. That’s according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Massachusetts Legislature has given preliminary approval to a budget proposal that includes $479 million for the University of Massachusetts system.
The state’s top higher education official is celebrating the nine percent increase in spending at a time when more and more jobs require some level of college education.
During the recession, like a weed in a drought, student loan debt was the only kind of consumer debt that continued to rise.
It increased from $550 billion at the start of the recession to nearly $1 trillion at the beginning of this year. It’s a crippling economic problem, says financial planner Jeff Cutter.
"That debt is actually causing young people to push back many of life’s milestones," Cutter said.
Getting married. Buying a house. Putting money away for retirement. Cutter says if Congress allows interest rates on subsidized loans to double at a time when students are already facing a tough job market, it could stall any economic recovery.
There's one overriding theme facing Massachusetts as Gov. Deval Patrick prepares to make his State of the State Address. How will the state pay for the initiatives Patrick has proposed this week?
On the heels of a major transportation plan, Patrick announced a massive plan to expand education on Tuesday.
Patrick’s announcement, at the Orchard Gardens K-8 school in Roxbury, was softened by a little boy named Francisco.
"When I grow up I want to be a firefighter so I can help people from fires," he said.
