Last week I interviewed John Dodds, director of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project (PUP), for a little story I’m working on for YES! magazine. (Actually, it will be an update of this piece I did for the American Prospect on organizing the unemployed.)
PUP is a scrappy non-profit that has fought for Philly’s impoverished and unemployed since the OPEC recession. Dodds’ work with them dates back to its founding in 1975, meaning he’s been with them through more recessions than you can count on one hand. I asked Dodds if he thought this one was considerably worse, from his organization’s viewpoint, than the others they’ve been through. His answer surprised me (although in retrospect, I should have thought of it).
UPDATE:The Senate passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 61 to 37. The bill will now enter conference committee to reconcile the House and the Senate versions of the bill. Final passage is expected early next week.
There is some good news when it comes to student aid in the Senate’s version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – it looks like funding for Pell grants will not be cut out of the bill under a proposed “bipartisan compromise,” which means that they will probably be included in the final version of the Senate bill. This greatly increases the chances that Pell grant funding will be included in the final version of the bill that will hopefully pass both houses of Congress.
There is also some bad news – while Pell grants will probably not be cut, there may still be significant cuts to higher education. For example, the original version of the Senate bill included $3.5 million for campus modernization projects, but this provision would be completely eliminated from the bill if the bipartisan compromise is adopted. The version of the stimulus bill that passed the house included $6 billion for this purpose.
The compromise will also contain large cuts to policies that would help states facing large budget cuts to sustain critical public services to K-12 and higher education, and help to mitigate the effects of state budget cuts to education. The Congressional Budget Office has reported that these kinds of provisions help to stimulate the economy better than all forms of tax cuts, and have been identified as some of the more efficient ways to stimulate the economy.
The compromise also includes large cuts to other aspects of the bill, and these cuts have made the stimulus package less efficient at stimulating the economy. The Center for American Progress has estimated that the Senate’s version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will create between 430,000 and 538,000 fewer jobs than the House of Representative’s version of the bill if this compromise is adopted. The House of Representative’s version of the bill included more aid to students and investment in higher education even before the recent cuts.
Campus Progress today joined several student, consumer, and higher education groups sending a letter to Congress to ask that economic stimulus legislation include short term assistance for students, who are facing significant trouble paying for college during the current recession.
So far, the only federal action to soften the blow of the recession on higher education has been to include providers of private student loans in the $700 billion dollar bailout. This action was counter productive, and will help few if any students while propping up high-risk, high-interest loans. You can read more about this here, or click here take action against the private loan bailout.
The letter sent to congress suggested four measures that Congress could include in the next stimulus package that would provide significant short term assistance for students, while investing in the most important asset for America’s economy in the years to come – human capital. Specifically, the groups asked Congress to:
Campus Progress Statement on the National Report Card on Higher Education
Washington, DC -- December 3, 2008 -- America has flunked on college affordability! That is the message sent by a report released earlier today by The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education that grades states’ higher education systems by their affordability, participation, preparation, and completion. Every state in the US except California received an “F” when it came to college affordability. On average, college costs low and middle income families 25% to 55% of their family income after financial aid is considered.
This shocking reminder of America’s failure to invest in the next generation should spur students, families, colleges and policymakers into action. With the national dialogue focused almost exclusively on short-term measures to bailout certain sectors of our economy, Campus Progress believes that a strong case should be made for a significant, long-term investment in college access and affordability. An educated workforce is the backbone to any viable vision of working economy, but without a renewed commitment to college affordability America will continue to fall behind in the global market.
Nope, I don’t mean medieval torture, but I do mean something almost as bad: moving back in with your parents.
The LA Times ran a pretty good article about the economic situation of young people, especially as it relates to the current recession.
The gist - young people are facing some tough economic times as they enter the job market, forcing many to move in or borrow money from their folks, as well as cut back on the lifestyle they are used to. Along with the steady trend towards higher student and credit card debt, the bursting economic bubbles have meant that young people are now more concerned with economic issues than, for example, ending the war in Iraq (although, of course, they are related issues - money spent on the war could help alleviate the crisis at home).
As you have probably heard, we are going through some rocky financial times. A “credit-crunch” fueled recession means that many financial institutions will have a harder time making ends meet, and this, of course, includes student loan companies, as the Washington Post points out today.
Higher education advocates are worried that these lenders are exaggerating the effects of the crisis on the student loan industry as a way to secure unneeded bailouts and get back some of the wasteful subsidies that Congress cut last year in order to increase student aid. They are also worried that all of the hype will mean debt-averse students may be discouraged from “investing” in a college education. Don’t worry – it is very unlikely that you won’t be able to get the loans you need to finance you education.
We have been warned again and again that seeing the world as an "us versus them" proposition is a fatal error. It's polarizing. It leads to "class warfare." It absolves "us" of the collective responsibility we all have in a democracy. Can't have it, not allowed.
Well, here's some news for "them". It is precisely an "us versus them" world. We live in a nation where tremendous wealth calls the shots without respect or regard for the public will, fails miserably again and again, and then hides behind "collective responsibility." We're supposed to believe that somehow "we all allowed this to happen."
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