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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
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TEXT FREE FOR ALL
Text your FFA submissions to (785) 289-8351 or at kansan.com
FFA OF THE DAY I wonder how many people got frustrated that they couldn't use the Jimmy John's at the Oread as a hallway to the Cave since the restaurant is permanently closed.
Tuesdays are crazy for me... I feel like I'm losing my mind and have no time to finish anything!!
My boyfriend's mom made 7-layer bean dip for Super Bowl Sunday and we still have a ton left over and I love it.
Saying "I don't know" when my six year old brother asks me why I don't have a boyfriend, because "I'm a lonely cat lady" just doesn't seem like the best response.
Wait, how was the attendance for Obama at KU greater? AFH holds 16,000 people and there were half that many tickets to see the president.
I don't even like the clap anymore because everyone at games is so horrible at it.
My teachers are so hot. Like, it's unfair. Why??
Those chapstick things that look like little balls... what are they called? I want one.
Quick! What does "TGIS" on the 1961 banner stand for?
the bearded trombone player at the men's game is super cute.
It's never too cold for ice cream.
Especially BOGO at Sylas and
Maddy's.
If you don't walk through one cloud of cigarette smoke a day, do you really go to KU?
Freezing going into my morning class and then hot as hell leaving in the afternoon... what clothes am I supposed to wear?
t. Loft is just another excuse to make tea look cool when it's really just overpriced tea.
I love the #LikeAGirl commercial!
Seriously, brought a tear to my
eye :)
The week has barely started and I'm already bloody exhausted. This is not a good sign.
I sit in the stall and hear two girls leave... Neither wash their hands #classy
Thanks a lot Ray Rice. #YouMade SuperBowlCommercialsSuck
Any good volunteer opportunities in Lawrence? I'd love to give back to the community!
COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PRO CON
Free schooling makes it harder on students
Students who had the incredible opportunity of seeing President Obama speak at the University know that he has proposed a plan to make community college tuition free. If his plan works out, it can potentially open up educational doors for thousands of people who wouldn't otherwise have the financial means to obtain a college degree. His plan comes with some restrictions - students, at minimum, must attend half-time and have a 2.5 GPA in order to receive a tuition grant. This all sounds great, right? But students who are able to attend a four-year school right after high school may suffer from this plan in unexpected ways.
One way that free tuition for community college can negatively affect students at four-year institutions is by increasing the amount we have to pay. "Fouryear colleges and universities depend on larger classes taught to first and second year students to keep cost down," according to The Washington Post. This means universities get more money from the classes that 100-plus students are paying for than the smaller, upper-level classes, where students receive more specialized knowledge that prepare them for potential future careers. Since the classes with more students earn schools more money than the smaller classes, they subsidize the upper level courses to a certain extent, The Washington Post continues. Since many students will be swayed to attend community college with Obama's free tuition plan, this may cause freshman and sophomore enrollment to drop for four-year universities, therefore, causing institutions to lose money.
When a university loses money, it is bad news for all of the students enrolled in the form of tuition and fee increases. Even though the financial consequence of free community college is certainly an important factor, another worrisome impact of this plan has to do with the quality of education and the little power a two-year degree can hold in the business world. According to Roger Williams University President Donald Farish said most community colleges are open-admission institutions that have to cater to students "with very weak academic qualifications." Aside from the issue with the low standards community colleges expect of their students, there's also the trope against the associate's degree that still affects the judgment of some employers. U.S. News uses an example of nursing, a field that is beginning to seek out people with bachelor's degrees rather than the traditional associate's.
"That can make it more difficult for nurses with only an associate's degree to find employment or advance in their field," reporter Briana Boyington said. "An associate degree can provide students with a lot of opportunities, but community college graduates should still be aware that perceptions about the quality of an associate degree still exist."
While it's admirable to create accessible higher education, it has some serious consequences in terms of quality of education these people will actually be receiving; it will make the associate's degree even more useless if more people are getting one of those degrees especially since.employers may be wary about hiring people with a two-year degree. It will raise the cost of tuition for those seeking a bachelor's degree (and other higher degrees) for not only students already enrolled in these programs but for the transfer students who take advantage of free community college as well.
Free tuition gives students incentive
Victoria Calderon is a sophomore from Liberal studying English and political science
Last month, President Obama proposed tuition-free community college (for
community college (for the first two years) for students that maintain a 2.5 GPA and are attending school at least half-time His proposal gives students from low-income families the opportunity to pursue higher education, while also alleviating debt accrued from pulling out student loans. Nearly 40 percent of
Nearly 40 percent of
"STUDENTS CAN HAVE OTHER FACTORS CONSIDERED WHEN SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION TO THE UNIVERSITY, BUT ONLY IF THEY DO NOT MEET THE ACT AND GPA REQUIREMENTS."
undergraduates attend a two year college, according to The Washington Post, and though a large portion of the student population attends community college, not much attention has been given to two-year schooling. More than 60 percent of students that attend community colleges go on to transfer to a four year university, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.
Obama is not saying he will give students a free pass. Individuals
who cannot afford to attend higherlevel education due to low income deserve the opportunity to further their schooling. Students who prove they are willing to work for this opportunity should be rewarded with free tuition, especially if they weren't able to afford further education after high school.
Critics remark that obtaining an associate's degree will not further students in the job field and that prospective employers are only looking for a bachelor's degree or higher. However, there are still high-paying jobs that accept an associate's degree such as mechanical engineering technicians, computer network support specialists, web developers, dental hygienists and many more. Associate's degrees may seem worthless to some, but in actuality they are putting students in a position that is far better than not seeking a degree at all. Slate.com reports that students whose family's income is at or greater than $200,000 are not eligible for tuition-free community college, which some may think is unfair. However, how is there any justification behind these critics' remarks? If families can't afford higher-level education, you can bet that they're not making $200,000 a year.
People must realize that if you are working toward, or have obtained a degree, you are extremely lucky. There are many individuals in our society that may not ever get the chance to further their education, and who are we to say that they do not deserve the opportunity?
Whether or not you believe an associate's degree is worthless, leave that up to them to decide.
We should not be hindering people that want to create better opportunities for themselves and their families.
Cecilia Cho is a senior from Overland Park studying American Studies
Current proposals don't alleviate student debt
College is a time of aches and pains. Our backs bear the burden of textbooks, homework assignments and on average, roughly $30,000 in student loan debt by the time we graduate, according to the Institute for College Access and Success. There is no doubt that the debt students carry is a rapidly growing individual problem, but this debt bubble also threatens the future of the American economy as a whole, according to USA Today.
according to USA Today. Young adults are forced to put off decisions such as owning a home or starting a family, adversely impacting economic growth. Something needs to be done to combat student debt, but current proposals to lessen the burden fail to actually
do so.
"POLITICIANS OF- TEN FAVOR SHORT- TERM 'SOLUTIONS' EVEN IF THERE ARE LONG-TERM REPERCUSSIONS BECAUSE AN ELECTION IS ALWAYS AROUND THE CORNER."
The majority of student loan reform initiatives on the Congressional docket the past two years have proposed lowering interest rates on educational loans. For example, in May 2014, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed letting students borrow at an interest rate of 0.25 percent. While this may sound like a good idea, after
a few minutes of thought, one finds that lowering interest rates on loans will have the opposite effect of lowering total debt.
As any accounting textbook will say, interest is the cost of borrowing money. When interest rates are lowered, it is cheaper to borrow money. In effect, by pursuing lower interest rates, governments are making it cheaper for students to take on even more debt as college tuition increases. Lowering the interest rate on student loans does not make college cheaper; it instead makes greater quantities of debt more affordable. By extension, rather than lowering the cost of tuition itself, having lower interest rates just makes expensive tuition easier to handle.
By pursuing lower interest rates on student loans, politicians are propping up increasingly pricey tuition. Since students are able to take on more debt, colleges and universities will face little incentive to be efficient, and maintain (or lower) prices. As economist
Neal McCluskey puts it:
"Give everyone $100 to pay for higher education and colleges will raise their prices by $100, negating the value of the aid."
Overall, politicians are failing to ask the real question: why is tuition increasing? Perhaps one answer is the growing amount spent on administration. According to a study by political scientist Jay Greene, over the past two decades, spending on higher education administration has increased by more than 60 percent. This is despite improvements in technology that should make administrative tasks easier to perform.
Politicians fail to tackle the root of higher prices, and choose to Band-Aid over the resulting tuition increases with cheaper loans. In my view, this leads to a vicious cycle of mounting debt and higher tuition. As colleges raise prices, government then makes increased debt more affordable through lower interest rates on
student loans, and therefore institutions face no incentive to lower tuition. Higher education may now know that they can increase prices without repercussion, and the cycle repeats.
It is true that lower rates may initially ease the burden of debt for many students, but this is a short-term solution. Once institutions realize that lowered rates make room for more debt, a new round of tuition increases will wipe out any progress toward the long-term goal of making college more affordable. Politicians often favor short-term "solutions" — even if there are long-term repercussions — because an election is always around the corner. Therefore, just as any diet pill promising immediate results should be questioned, as students, we must be skeptical of anyone who promises a quick fix to our debt problems.
John Olson is a sophomore from Wichita studying economics
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THE KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansas
Editorial Board are Brian
Hillik, Paige Lytle, Cecilia
Cho, Stephanie Bickel and
Xeharu Xu.
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