<p>During his campaign, he said (not direct quote) "Americans need to be more educated!" Does this mean he's going to help pay for my college education? : )</p>
<p>Seriously, I am curious how everyone thinks Obama's presidency will change our college/university scene.</p>
<p>No, he's not going to pay for your education. I, and people like me, will. That is, unless you choose to work and pay for it yourself.</p>
<p>You would think that people could look these things up for themselves.</p>
<p>Obama will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth $4,000 in exchange for community service. It will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students.</p>
<p>Recipients of this credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of public service a year, either during the school year or over the summer months.</p>
<p>Free money, I'd take that, as a mooch :) But speaking for the nation as a whole, it's really disturbing the promise of $4000 available for so many in the midst of an environment of declining tax revenues when we've got bigger priorities than making sure kids don't have to pay student loans like their parents did.</p>
<p>The idea of the $4000 college money sounds good, but i guess we'll have to wait and see. I mean, these things will probably take time to get implemented, so its not like its gonna happen very soon.</p>
<p>...but i think the fact that Obama actually cares enough to help out college students is promising.</p>
<p>How is it help? All he is doing is hurting somebody else so he can give you a handout. </p>
<p>Theres a reason why 20-30 years ago college educated people made more than blue collar workers, and theres now a reason why the blue collar workers make more than the college educated.</p>
<p>Higher education has been the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life, I cant wait till its done with.</p>
<p>wooah there...i know that higher education, like college and grad school, requires an ungodly amount of a person's time and effort, but in the end its definitely worth it. people with a college education are definitely better off than those without one.</p>
<p>however, i admit, there are some cases where people dont go to college and still "hit it big" or make a decent amount of money, but you really have to have good ideas and such for that to happen or mindlessly work for years on end.</p>
<p>Tuition is still going to rise. You guys can pile your illusion high :) BUT I don't think anything is going to change.
Think about it, community service for college money? um, how about I just take a year off, stay at home and work at McDonalds, which will inevitably make more money and waste less time?
Don't you guys think community service take up time, too? And if the sole end is for money, why not work for McDonalds or something else which will pay you more?
If it is college money you are worrying about, then you better figure some way to increase you bank account, otherwise, you loan!</p>
<p>Well if its $4000 and 100 required hours, thats about $40/hour... which is much better than working at Mickey D's...</p>
<p>tazmanian_devil</p>
<p>I am talking from experience. Today if you graduate from college its rare to make over 100K a year at retirement, but its common to make only 65K after a entire career of advancing, and I am being generous here.The numbers are usually much lower. People go to school to supposedly better themselves, but in the end you are only worth what the market will pay. </p>
<p>If you are a highly successful student things can get a bit easier for you, but what is considered successful. I studied engineering so about a 3.5 was pretty good/successful, but really rare. The average engineering gpa at my school was a 2.7 with a 73% dropout rate. But engineering is its own game. We need to talk about majors like Pre-Pharmacy, pre-law, biology, Business, nursing, biomedical sciences and the rest of the majors, where 8/10 of the people in theme have around a 3.85 gpa. Its ridiculous, to see so many people with high grades and it wasn't just at MY University, Its at all of them. Professors feel a need to inflate their students grades, due to staff and student pressures, but it all comes down to the disgusting nature of students. These classes that are supposed to measure students for graduate school(medical, law, dental, pharmacy, etc), but slowly these classes don't mean anything. The classes are supposed to do two things, which are: 1) teach students a breath of knowledge in the subject 2) Objectively weed out the strong students from the week. The classes don't really do #2 anymore, especially when 8/10 students in the major has a ridiculously high gpa's. In this I blame both the professors and the students.<br>
1) The students because they break their professors down. Grade grubbers are everywhere and these students are almost harassing professors for grades. Its foolish and needs to stop. Professors who teach 500 person classes, give back a test and half the students rush down and bombard him with questions. The other half goes to his office hours. grow up guys, accept the grades you get.</p>
<p>2) I also blame the professors for doing the easy grading. They submit to student pressure and shouldn't. They need to be approved by the students or else the students will complain that that professor is to hard. Then the professors is either moved to another class, lab work or fired. </p>
<p>My point in all of this is, what does it mean to be successful?. Surly graduating from college doesn't mean anything when the majority of academic disciplines graduate insane numbers of students with insane gpa's. Students are insane about their grades, and they somehow expect high grades, like they are paying for them.</p>
<p>So in the end with the low wages you will make and the insane amounts of extra work to distinguish yourself from the next 4.0, its just not worth it. </p>
<p>Now we could have gotten a blue collar trade job, where at 18 you could have joined a union, became a apprentice and by the time you were 19 you would have</p>
<p>A high paying job, 60-120K a year + Overtime
Full pension
Full Health Insurance
Have a career in demand,.</p>
<p>Like I have said before, I know guys from HS who didn't take the college route and right after college being elevator technicians or electricians, they were making 80K a year. They only have to work 20 years and they get a pension and full health insurance for the rest of their lives. </p>
<p>You tell me which is better? You need to go where the demand is, and all Obama is doing is funneling more people into higher education, when the market doesn't want or need them. So jobs that require higher education, will become less available and wages will keep falling, while the inverse is true for the blue collar workers.</p>
<p>What does it mean for people in college? It means you probably won't have to find a job when you graduate, and if you do then prepare to give away a good portion of your paycheck to support your friends who slacked off.</p>
<p>The thing that Obama and the liberal left don't realize is that we make too many of the wrong degrees, and not enough of the right ones. A 4K tax credit might be good, but do it for majors that are actually needed and are in short supply: Engineering, primarily. In fact, in the current economic environment engineers seem to be the only people getting jobs.</p>
<p>The problem with college is the rising tuition and what we get out of it. Fancy buildings. Expensive textbooks. meh</p>
<p>Look at Sarah Palin. She's college educated and she didn't know that Africa is a continent.
When Obama talks about how "Americans need to be more educated," he has to make sure college grads know facts like that.</p>
<p>Seriously though, how didn't she know it is a continent? I knew that since 6th grade.</p>
<p>community service involves helping your community which everyone in your community benefits from, not like working at a fast food place which really, in my opinion, hurts. not you working there but using your time at a place that really is of little benefit to anyone.</p>
<p>Unless you start making over $250,000 after college, you won't be paying for your friend's college tuition. I support Obama's tax hike for those over $250,000, so long as it is a reversal of the Bush socialist policies (giving money to the rich), and a return to the Clinton levels of taxation. Let's get real: a small increase on taxes on the rich, returning to previous levels, will not tank the economy. Doubling their taxes would, yes. A few small percentage points? No. </p>
<p>The idea that he's going to help pay for people's college tuition was a campaign promise that will probably not happen, considering the economy. It won't happen unless he borrows all that money from China. With the reality of the economy, he is probably not going to be able to help people pay for college. </p>
<p>Personally, I'd rather the government help pay for people's college tuition than pay for the Iraq war. I would also like to see a reversal of top-down money giveaways (socialism for the rich) and reduced regulation. It doesn't work. Give the middle class money to spend, which will eventually go to the corporations and increase product demand, and create jobs. </p>
<p>The Republicans haven't followed their tenet of reduced government spending- sure, they reduce taxes for the wealthy, but they increase spending, build up a huge deficit, and tank our economy. It's time for the more fiscally conservative party- the Democrats- to take the reigns.</p>
<p>Every college student will be now be required to do 100 hours of community service EVERY YEAR according to Obama's new web site America</a> Serves | Change.gov and there's no mention of that $4000 he promised for the 100 hours.</p>
<p>
[quote]
How is it help? All he is doing is hurting somebody else so he can give you a handout. </p>
<p>Theres a reason why 20-30 years ago college educated people made more than blue collar workers, and theres now a reason why the blue collar workers make more than the college educated.</p>
<p>Higher education has been the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life, I cant wait till its done with.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Dr. Horse - </p>
<p>You're so ideological. If you're that bitter, then perhaps your party should have been fiscally responsible for the past 8 years. They weren't and the people spoke. At least respect that. </p>
<p>I'm sure you realize that Clinton, a Democrat, ran the most fiscally responsible White House in decades. He was paying down the massive debt from Reagan / Bush I. Obama's policies are aligned with Clinton's. Don't buy the Republican hype held over from the 1960s. </p>
<p>I'm also sure your realize that the GI Bill that paid for the education of soldiers after WWII laid a foundation for the emergence of a massive consumer middle class and is widely regarded as a cornerstone of the ensuing American prosperity and transition out of manufacturing. </p>
<p>I'm sure once you're out of college you'll appreciate it more. It's not just about money. It's about having a satisfying job. I would like to see a statistic citing your claim that blue collar workers make more than white. </p>
<p>You should examine the bigger picture beyond narrow fiscal conservatism. Sometimes investments in the public good are wise financial decisions for the nation.</p>
<p>First of all, Dr. Horse, you said that "...8/10 students in the major has a ridiculously high gpa's. In this I blame both the professors and the students."</p>
<p>What's wrong with having high GPA's? Last I checked, that was a good thing. And isn't it BETTER for both our country and for the students that they are getting better grades?</p>
<p>Also, you said, "Professors who teach 500 person classes, give back a test and half the students rush down and bombard him with questions. The other half goes to his office hours. grow up guys, accept the grades you get."</p>
<p>I understand that nowadays, students are too worried about their grades and put too much importance on them and instead of actually learning, concentrate on the letter grade. However, just because they want to ask the teacher questions about a test after getting it back doesn't make them immature. Rather, that makes them responsible, since they want to see what they got wrong and hopefully improve for the future.</p>
<p>Last thing you said, "Now we could have gotten a blue collar trade job, where at 18 you could have joined a union, became a apprentice and by the time you were 19 you would have</p>
<p>A high paying job, 60-120K a year + Overtime
Full pension
Full Health Insurance
Have a career in demand,."</p>
<p>How do you get a 120K job in one year? How do you even get a 60K job in one year? I don't know exactly what you're trying to say, but from what I gathered, you're saying that if I join a union at 18, then by 19 I will have a job that pays from 60K-120K? How? After only one year of working, I don't think that's possible. But then again, I don't have experience working, so I may be wrong.</p>
<p>Finally, AMom2: you're not REQUIRED to do community service every year, and there is definitely a mention of the $4000. I quote directly from the site:(America</a> Serves | Change.gov)</p>
<p>"Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free."</p>
<p>For middle and high school students, there will be a GOAL of 50 hours, not necessarily a requirement. Also, it never says anything about 100 hours of community service being mandatory for college students. And at the end, it says IF they do 100 hours, they'll get $4,000.</p>
<p>They changed the website after people complained. I'm glad it's back to the One Time $4000 for 100 hours. (It was a promise.) I hope they stick to making it voluntary.</p>
<p>From Obama's new site:</p>
<p>America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the FIRST $4,000 of their college education is completely free.</p>
<p>Please note that it is only for the FIRST $4000, so if you are in school now---well---you may/maybe not receive that $4000 tax credit.</p>