College Debt: Less is More

In 2007, I graduated from a 4-year private university. I came from an upper middle class family in California that made enough to afford a house payment, car payments, car insurance, health insurance, life insurance, and other general odds, ends and occasional wants. But we didn't have $45,000 per year for college tuition. With our financial system the way it is, and the way need-based help is calculated, it was decided that my family had an extra $25,000 to spare towards tuition. Now with more loans then I could imagine and interest accumulating, I owe more money then I will make in my first and maybe even second year out of college.

Recently the thought hit me--could my vote make a difference in how much debt I found myself in? The answer is yes.

This Congress, elected during a year of unprecedented high young voter turnout, is working to make life easier on graduates:

In September 2007, the Congress enacted the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (PL 110-84), which makes college more affordable and provides the largest expansion in college aid since the GI Bill in 1944. Specifically, this Act provides more than $20 billion in federal student aid over the next five years and provides that interest rates on need-based (subsidized) federal student loans will drop from 6.8% to 6.0% on July 1st – making these loans more affordable for millions of low- and middle-income students. This is the first step towards halving these interest rates – under the Act, between now and 2011, these rates will continue to decrease until they reach 3.4%.

For the 2008-2009 academic year, in addition to the interest rate being cut to 6.0%, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act will also:

• Increase the Pell Grant scholarship by $490 (raising the maximum award to $4,731).
• Provide up-front tuition assistance of $4,000 each year for students who commit to teaching high-need subjects in high-need public schools upon graduation.

-- Tom Manatos, advisor to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

It's nice to see how my vote in 2006, and the votes of thousands of other young people, have established a congress that is working for our interests. So the question stands, why are you voting?