In the middle of Campus Progress' battle to make college affordable for all Americans, a new report says higher education costs rose drastically last year, putting a degree even further out of reach for thousands of young people.

According to the College Board, from July 2008 to July 2009, tuition and fees for four-year public colleges rose an average of 6.5 percent, to $15,213. At private four-year institutions, costs went up 4.4 percent, to $35,636.

It's grim news, and grimmer still is this:

Campus Progress is working with partners like the US Students Association and the PIRGs to mobilize students across the country for the Raising Pell Week of Action, October 6th – 8th.

Students are taking action to ensure that their Senators support President Obama’s plan to stop funding government subsidies to banks, and instead increase the Federal Pell Grant.

Take a stand and organize an event on your campus. If you are interested in participating in the week of action to your campus, fill out our event request form, or contact us atorganize@campusprogress.org.

To learn more about the issue, visit Students Over Banks.

Campus Progress Advocacy Senior Associate Pedro de la Torre III, released the following statement today in response to the passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221) today in the House: 

“Campus Progress applauds the passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. This bill, the largest federal investment in higher education in our history, provides critical and carefully-targeted aid to young people. By prioritizing the needs of students over wasteful subsidies for loan companies, the bill will enable millions to pursue higher education.

 Hooman Hedayati, a government and Middle Eastern studies senior at the University of Texas-Austin, just published an op-ed in the Daily Texan in support of cutting wasteful subsidies to student loan companies and using the savings to make college more affordable and accessible.

 Here is an excerpt:

Under the current plan, Sallie Mae and other student loan companies are getting rich from wasteful — but totally legal — government subsidies. A few weeks before the start of this semester’s classes, the U.S. Department of Education’s inspector general released a report claiming that Nellie Mae, a subsidiary of loan giant Sallie Mae, improperly received $22.3 million in taxpayer subsidies.
 
Luckily, there is now a plan in Congress, originally proposed by Obama, that would end wasteful subsidies to student loan companies by lending directly to students, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will save taxpayers $87 billion over 10 years. The loan companies have already spent millions of dollars lobbying against this reform. 

Hooman is a member of Campus Progress, and receives an Organizing Grant for his work with the Students Against the Death Penalty.

You can learn more about current efforts to make college affordable--and take action—at Student Over Banks. 

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.

Bad news – despite letters from concerned taxpayers, students, and college affordability advocates, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that he will be moving ahead with his proposal to spend part of the $700 billion dollar bailout to “save” providers of private student loans.

Campus Progress, along with the Project on Student Debt and many others, urged Secretary Paulson against this action, and asked the public to express their concern. We feel that this action is unnecessary, counter productive, and unfair. We should not spend taxpayer dollars to help CEO’s while students are denied the right to discharge their education loans in bankruptcy if they run into financial hardships.

Don’t throw up your arms and walk away - we need to demand that any government bailout for lenders making risky, high-cost loans is accompanied by common sense protections for borrowers.

Write to Secretary Paulson urging him not to sell out students while bailing out lenders.

Students with impossible-to-pay college costs are joining the ranks of distressed homeowners and CEOs in feeling the brunt of the economic collapse. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has proposed allocating part of the $700 billion bailout for private tuition loaning agencies that, with their high interest rates, have already ruined the credit of generations of students around the country who have amassed insurmountable debt before they even step foot in their first full-time jobs.

High risk loans are what got us in the trouble in the first place!  Rather than supporting these companies, students need access to fair loans in order to help them make smart decisions abut college.

Alongside education and activist leaders across the country, Campus Progress has signed on to a letter to oppose Paulson’s support of these corrupt loaning companies that will hurt students and perpetuate the shortfalls in this economy. If you’re interested in learning more about this action, check out the letter on the website for The Project on Student Debt here, take action, and tell your friends!

Want strengthen the progressive movement on your campus, bring engaging speakers and films to jumpstart dialogue, and engage in activism on local and national issues?

Then join the Campus Progress Student Network for 2008-2009! We’re currently still accepting applications to join the team of Student Representatives from the across the country who work with the staff of Campus Progress to advance progressive causes at the local level and make their voices heard on the issues they care most about.

***  New deadline! Applications are now due by Wednesday September 3rd, so click here to learn more and to apply. ***

Erica Williams, Policy and Advocacy Manager for Campus Progress, and Mark Savage, who was a Student Advisory Board member for the 2007-2008 school year, were featured on the Tavis Smiley Show on a segment about college affordability on August 8th. Check it out!

Click here if you want to get involved in Campus Progress’s efforts around College Affordability, or become a Student Representative for the 2008-2009 school year.

Campus Progress congratulates Congress on the passage of the Higher Education Opportunity Act. This legislation takes another small step toward an affordable and accessible system of higher education, and will finally reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965.