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Dupe U (Federalizing Student Loans)

March 9, 2010 by Matthew J. O'Connor
Filed under: Uncategorized 

USdunce Dupe U (Federalizing Student Loans)

By Robert “Bob” Jentges (Contributing Editor, Clarion Advisory) 1:28 P.M. CST / March 09, 2010

It is a given that educating our children is our future.  The way I see it, the responsibility begins with parents, followed by local school districts and the respective States.

Does the Federal Government have a role?  I find no authority in the U.S. Constitution that it does, except for maybe military service academies and possibly ROTC.  But as with most things, lack of authority from the Constitution has not stopped them from intruding.  With respect to K-12 education, that intrusion often involves unfunded mandates. 

But the intrusion does not stop there.  The House of Representatives has passed a provision to increase college tuition grants by $40 billion.  It is presently being held-up in the Senate.  The key word is “grants.”  As most people know, a “grant” differs from a student loan.  To put it bluntly, a “grant” is free money from Uncle Sam (federal taxpayers) with no requirement to pay it back.  A college education is not a right granted by the Constitution.  A college education is a privilege – - – one I wish everyone that wanted could have.  But it is not the responsibility of federal taxpayers to pay for college tuition grants to anyone that meets certain criteria.  Moreover, excluding some students who otherwise might qualify for federal tuition grants simply because their parents’ family income may be a thousand dollars greater than others, to me is discriminatory.

Setting aside “grants” for a moment, the Federal Department of Education (DOE) is continuing its efforts to take over the student loan system.  Under their plan the DOE would borrow money from the U.S. Treasury [guess where that money comes from] at 2.8% and lend it to students at 6.8%.  The idea of the Federal Government making money off students struggling to pay for their college education leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

I will take a wild guess at what the Federal Government might do with the profits – - – redistribute them to some new pork barrel program.

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