Richard Carmona (“Politicized attacks on Pell Grants misguided,” EVT 3/30) is right that a good education opens doors. What he fails to grasp is that incurring massive debt in exchange for an unmarketable degree often slams shut the door of opportunity. For many students, Pell Grants have simply been a gateway drug to a mountain of debt. As Carmona points out, Pell Grants cover less than a third of the cost of tuition, with the remainder often covered by government-subsidized loans. Mr. Carmona omits mention of loans entirely. Perhaps because it would complicate his partisan hit on Congressman Jeff Flake, whose comments about the government driving tuition inflation were clearly addressing the entire massive array of federal subsidies. Total student debt, much of which is subsidized by the government, recently topped one trillion dollars! If you think all that cash hasn’t led to inflation, then you may have a degree, but you missed the education.
Ross Groen
Tempe
Cerulean posted at 7:34 am on Wed, Apr 4, 2012.
In the past the best way out of poverty and into a middle class existence was via a college education. A Pell Grant is a Federal program designed to help low-income undergrads pay for a college education.
What is an “unmarketable degree”? I would love to know what “unmarketable” is supposed to mean.
Does it mean that a college-educated individual can no longer find work? Is that more a reflection of a failed capitalist system? Are Reganomics (tax cuts for the wealthy) allowing too few to hoard all the dollars to buy corporate jets, yachts, gold plated toilets, etcetera? Is that really good for We The People ?
Ross, I think RICHARD CARMONA got it right, “We have a unique society that encourages and incentivizes opening doors to others. And in doing so, we have fostered innovation, economic growth and a more equitable society.” And that is true for you too, Ross.
truth posted at 7:55 am on Wed, Apr 4, 2012.
When we the Republican party retake the White House our first act will be to eliminate Obamacare and replace it with GOPSCARE with the GOPSCARE and the new findings of the common asprin, Oxford University found that people who took asprin daily lowered the risk of having a heart attack and 23% less likley to develope cancer and over five years a 37% lower rate of cancer. Because asprin has been proven to do much more than previously thought, the GOPSCARE will raise the price on asprins to $3 to $5 per pill.Thank you pharmaceutical companies for your generous contributions.
Arizona Willie posted at 9:21 am on Wed, Apr 4, 2012.
Cerulean, I believe he means a degree that is virtually worthless in getting a job in the real world.
Such as a degree in Medieval Music.
Very few employers need people who have expertise in Medieval Music or Medieval Literature etc. etc.
But kids can get into a mountain of debt getting those " worthless " degrees.
They have about as much chance of winning the Powerball as they do finding a job using those degrees.
Of course there are those employers who require a college degree for a receptionist as a way of screening out the " undesirables " and who don't care about what the degree is because they are going to use the people for telemarketing jobs anyway, or similar things where a degree really isn't necessary.
chatmandu002 posted at 11:14 am on Wed, Apr 4, 2012.
Get the federal government out of the education business. After 40+ years the federal government has proven it can't do the job. Eliminate the Department of Education and stop all federal student loans except for veterans. Return authority for education to the states and local boards along with the money.
Cerulean posted at 12:58 pm on Wed, Apr 4, 2012.
Arizona Willie,
If that be the case then there is a discernible point to be made. The letter does not read like an argument for specifying conditions for Pell Grants; it reads like a political attack on Carmona and ALL federal loans for college education.
Arizona Willie posted at 1:30 pm on Wed, Apr 4, 2012.
Cerulean.... correct ... that is EXACTLY what the letter is -- a political attack on Carmona and All Federal Loans for College education.
The writer is an obvious Flake supporter.
Rich posted at 3:08 pm on Thu, Apr 5, 2012.
Actually it's a political attack on a political article that purports to attack politics. Government hasn't anything to give anyone until they take it away from someone else. And who gets it and why is political.
VofReason posted at 12:29 pm on Fri, Apr 6, 2012.
This may be a surprise to some, but there is no guarantee implied in the constitution of middle class assention. Wonder how much of the Trillion dollars was given to people who didn't have either the ability or the drive to actually complete college and where the repayment of that money is unlikely as well. As stated above, the Federal Government has been in full drive for making sure that Education worked. How is that working out?