IL Gets a "D" in College Affordability

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Sep 16, 2004 3:13PM

Making college more affordable has become a political issue in the U.S. Senate race. In an national report card released yesterday, Illinois got a D in affordability. Four years ago we got an A and like most issues, Barack Obama and Alan Keyes have very different solutions to the problem.

Obama's plan is to increase the amount of money paid in federal Pell grants by 25%. To do this he would recommend cutting the student loan profits of banks and letting government run the financial assitance programs. Obama said, "We can't continue to reward private lenders and banks who have been filling the campaign coffers of those who make decisions about the student loan programs. We have to provide, instead, needed aid to those who want to go back to college to get the education and skills they need to get quality jobs."

Keyes bashes Obama's plan saying that Obama's first instinct is always to increase the size, scope and power of the government at the expense of individual liberty and that Obama trusts bureaucrats more than people. Keyes says to make college more affordable we should replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax. He says that would give people more money to spend on whatever they want, including college tuition.

In the meantime, Chicago's North Park University is planning to cut tuition by more than 30% next fall. Tuition for freshman will be about $13,900, which is more than $20,000 less than usual.

David Horner, the president of the University, says slashing the tuition will help the small, Christian liberal arts school be more selective. He says that right now a lot of potential applicants are scared off by the school's high cost and that reducing the cost of tuition will attract more applicants.