Organizing for America | GENE WALKER's Blog: COLLEGE TUITION ASSISTANCE INITIATIVES

COLLEGE TUITION ASSISTANCE INITIATIVES

By Offworldman - Jan 25th, 2008 at 9:42 pm EST

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Exerpts of "The Higher Education 2050 Report", by Gene K. Walker.

Lack of Education on Future Prison Populations

There is a startling, unnerving correlation between the number of African American and other ethnic students in special education---who end up in the criminal justice system. And this should disturb and outrage all Americans, and not just the civil rights organizations that fought to reduce discrimination in education. Warehousing young ethnic Americans has become a profitable burgeoning new industry, to the degree of offering public stock in many states. Prison manufacturing assembly labor is cheaper, on par with many foreign nations the U.S. conducts trade relations with.

This state of affairs is totally unacceptable and should make all truly enlightened, fair-minded Americans absolutely furious. The implication is clear. This scandal in primary and secondary education policy in America has such a far reaching effect on the future adult lives of it's victims, the innocent students, and this nation's future economy, that immediate action must be taken. It is adding to the mass population of under-educated, unskilled labor and the future prison populations. The term conspiracy is not too strong a term to describe this entrenched, racially biased, incendiary education policy practice. It is ethnic profiling, plan and simple. Alarms of ethical concern should go off among patriotic Americans at so many children "taking that short trip from the cradle to the grave", followed by indignant outrage, pure outrage.

It is difficult enough to be of African, or Native Indigenous ethnic descent in America; a stolen land that was built and derives its original wealth off of the foundation of oppressed free labor, and the selling of that stolen, captive people. Imagine having to encounter on a daily basis, experiences where society attempts to demean and remind you, either subtly or overtly, of how much it loathes you and how low it regards people of your ethnic heritage; marginalized descendants of a conquered, oppressed ancestry, people of color.

But when there is evidence to support charges that:

A) Either the Education System continues to be grossly derelict in equally and adequately preparing our innocent, disadvantaged ethnic American students… Or
B) There is a deliberate effort by a hopelessly biased element in the entire national primary and secondary education administration to divert our ethnic American students down a path of low expectations and under-achievement, to a life of intellectual, social and economic obscurity, potential self ruination and or self destruction. An institutionalized "Fast Track" education policy, in order to warehouse poor, under-educated ethnic Americans; to condition them for "removal" from productive, progressive society…Or
C) Both apply simultaneously.

If both charges are true, again, ethical flashing red lights should signal alarm should signal in the national conscience, an ongoing injustice taking place. The U.S. Education System can alter course away from this caste policy, sentencing innocent children to hopeless lives. Or, it can remain at the top of the roster of historical institutions guilty of genocidal high crimes against the ethnic populations of America. This reversal of progress in education simply will not stand without challenge. It must not continue. It is a direct threat against Type One social progression.

The Havard Study didn't surprise former educator and former NAACP president Howard Jefferson. He believes that the criteria for placing students in special education is, "flawed and needs to be changed".

Another trend listed by the research study was that smaller class size is a racial equalizer. The current focus on higher standards and testing will create a movement toward more personalized help for students. According to a 2001 Princeton research study, smaller class sizes will help schools narrow the "black/white" achievement gap, lower teen birthrates and possibly reduce crime rates.

Poor, disadvantaged and ethnic students benefit the most when classes are reduced from the average 22 to 25 students, to between 13 and 17. Average standardized test scores increase by 7 to 10 percentile points for African-American students and 3 to 4 percentile points for Anglo-American Students. The likelihood of African- American students taking the ACT or SAT college entrance exams rose from 31.8 to 41.3 percent, and that of Anglo-American students from 44.7 to 46.4 percent. The average score increased slightly for both student groups.

The teen birthrate was one third less for Anglo-American females, while the fatherhood rate was 40 percent lower for teenage African-American males.

The Council for Basic Education says that the study shows, "there are more than transitory gains in reducing class size". But other problems persist, besides the shortage in new teachers to facilitate a reduction in class size. For example:

• One quarter of high school students fail to graduate.

After decades of improvement, the nation's school completion rate has stagnated over the past 20 years, despite large amounts of money and attention focused on education. Some students do go on to earn GEDs and other alternative credentials. But as the national debate refocuses on raising standards and increasing accountability, some experts claim that too many graduates are being lost before the so called "new education reforms" are in place that may help them. Some experts predict that the dropout rate may increase.

Achieve Incorporated is a consortium of state and corporate leaders that advocate higher standards and tests for graduation and promotion. Their challenge is to raise academic standards and increase accountability for all students while simultaneously ensuring that students receive the support they need to meet the standards and stay in school. The dropout rate is most severe in large cities. Crushing societal problems and poor academic preparation often eliminate huge percentages of students from the rolls before they graduate.

This is what happens when primary students are merely passed along in warehouse style classrooms where they are not challenged to learn at an early age.

Programs that divide large high schools into smaller units, create more familiarity with staff and offer intensive remedial instruction to ninth-graders, show promise. But such programs have not been widely implemented, even as more educators grow concerned about the drop out problem.

Dropouts do not have a place in the economy. Dropouts are 50 percent more likely to be unemployed than high school graduates, according to the National Center for Education. When they are employed, high school dropouts earn about 25 percent less than high school graduates.

Adults with only a high school diploma or less than a bachelor's degree do not fare much better. The hard fact is adults that are under-educated, more often than not, subsist just at or below the poverty level. We live in era where 12 years of basic fundamental high school education will not ensure a living wage income.

Higher education, a bachelor, masters or doctorate degrees, make all the difference in the world. Although success is never guaranteed, higher education is a blueprint for a more successful life.

Another trend listed by the Educational Research Service Study:

• Students born between 1982 and 2003, known as the Millennial Generation, will insist on solutions to an accumulation of society's problems, inequities and injustices.

The H.E. 2050 Report urges strongly that this nation create more high tech graduates, and offers more high tech vocational training; made available to the poorer, less fortunate socio-economic classes.

Cisco Systems Computer Networking Academy does just that. With 2400 Networking Academies in the U.S. and 6400 worldwide, Cisco Systems Networking Academy offers CCNA Computer Technician training and certification. Entry level salaries in this field begin around $40,000. That is a reasonable living wage for the 21st century. Image trying to live on less than half of that salary? Millions of working poor are doing just that every day, some working two jobs just to make half of that salary.

The economy has rapidly evolved into one increasingly dependent on the resources of the mind, according to Texas State Representative Brian McCall. Job growth in the knowledge based sector has exploded in the last decade. High tech employment has jumped. Yet the number of engineering and computer science graduates increased by less than 10 percent; and the number of engineering graduates actually dropped during that period.

Today one of every two students who enroll in an engineering program does not graduate with a degree. Among ethnic minorities and women, less than 20 percent of U.S. engineering degrees went to women. Only 5 percent were African-American and just over 6 percent were Hispanic.

Vacancies exist nationwide in the technology sector. These include positions for electrical engineers, computer scientists, skilled technicians with two year degrees from community colleges and vocational schools, and manufacturing specialists with high school diplomas. There is a growing concern that our number of engineering and computer graduates from public colleges and universities must be increased. There is also a growing concern that America's economic growth and competitive advantage in the technology sector could be challenged.

Using the Texas Workforce Development Act as an example, colleges and universities should implement aggressive and innovative new approaches to improve the retention of engineering and computer science students. State and federal legislation should be proposed to provide grants to public universities to increase enrollment and improve retention rates in those areas of study. The leverage of public-private sector funds is a key feature of the bill.

Co-sponsored by Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis and Texas State Representative Brian McCall, Senate Bill 353 would commit up to $5 Million annually to match as much as $5 Million from the technology industry and other private sources--for a total of $10 Million. The fund would be administered by The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The bill serves as a model of the kind of state legislation needed to encourage the nation's high school graduates to train for careers in the technology industry.

Texas Senate Bill 1596 is also aimed at scholarship funds for students attending technical schools and training programs for skills such as software development and semiconductor manufacturing.

One causality of the 2001 Texas legislative process was an established and by many accounts successful job training program for adults. Smart Jobs was eliminated from funding. The program was part of the Texas Department of Economic Development debate in 2001, referring to the state agency that has been under threat of being disbanded by a number of legislators. It was embroiled in that larger debate, and when the dust cleared, was simply gone, rejected.

This is an example of a 'Type One' initiative stamped out by a short-sighted 'Type Zero' status quo; a one step forward, two steps back trend in neoconservative politics.

Teacher Recruitment

In a 'Type One' future, incentives to encourage the entrance of college graduates and trained professionals into the teaching professions could range from tax exemption for educators, to a zero dollar co-pay and no payroll deductions, so that teachers can get the best health care insurance available, to a guarantee of tuition free higher education for children of career primary, secondary and collegiate educators with at least 10 years of teaching. If the incentives are substantial enough, future generations will never have to worry about a shortage of professional teachers. But that would exist only in a progressive, 'Type One' society where logical solutions are implemented.

Teach For America is a group that encourages new college graduates to enter this noble profession, while Troops to Teachers encourages military retirees, particularly those with mathematics and science skills to enter teaching professions. According to reports by journalists Laurence McQuillan and Debbie Byrnes, experts say that the teaching profession faces shortages that could grow worse in the decades ahead.

A shortage of qualified teachers is a major problem in urban areas. The Department of Education projects that public schools will need 2.2 million teachers in the next decade to offset the retirements and influx of a greater number of students.

Baby boomers--those born between 1946 and 1964--enrolled in unprecedented numbers in schools in the 1950's. Thirty years after the baby boomers entered school in record numbers, their children are surpassing that feat, the 2000 census reports. There are nearly 49 million students. One student in five at least one foreign born parent and 5 percent of students are foreign born.

Experts say today's students are drawing attention to the need for substantial funds to be devoted to school construction and teacher training programs. With 30-year-old buildings deteriorating and a generation of teachers nearing retirements after decades in the classroom.

"We have a series of incentives that encourage people to get out just as we need them to stay in", said Bruce Hunter of the American Association of School Administrators. Large numbers of teachers who began their careers during the last wave of the 1960's and 1970's are being encouraged to retire, even though many are only in their late 50's.

Shawn Lewis of the Council of Great City Schools believes that teacher shortages and problems with instructors teaching outside of their specialty will worsen as will problems with aging buildings. "With the influx of new students we'll have to continue to use those older buildings that are in bad shape and should be torn down", Lewis said.

The 2000 Census data shows that 48.7 million students in public and private schools were enrolled in the 1st through 12th grades, slightly more than in 1971 when enrollment last peaked. An additional 3.8 million students were in kindergarten in 1999, for a total of 52.5 million. The Education Department predicts that total elementary and secondary school enrollment will rise to 53.2 million by fall 2001, and that number will peak in 2005 at about 53.5 million. That total covers public students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The figures show that 15 percent of the students are Hispanic and 4 percent are Asian--roughly comparable to the nation's total population.

The 2000 school Census figures released in 2001 were the first to collect information on the origin of the student's families. Researchers have asked such questions since 1944, but have never gathered results in a report. Schools are trying to adapt to an increasingly diverse student body.

Teaching Program Sees Steady Growth

Journalist Debbie Byrnes notes how Teach for America is making a difference in the way children learn. The organization is beginning to create a wave in the field of education that stresses the importance of equality for all school age children. Three times a year, Teach for America recruits a select number of recent college graduates to become members of its corp. These individuals commit to a two-year contract to teach in some of the country's most under-resourced areas.

Although they recruit individuals with many different backgrounds, they prefer those with science and math degrees. Typically, science and math majors have a lot of job opportunities when they graduate and don't think of education as a career path. Teach for America is trying to change all that.

This non-profit organization, which places teachers in 15 regions throughout 14 states, doesn't care what kind of educational degrees its corps members receive. It cares that they are driven individuals with a strong desire to want to help improve the public education system. Once perspective corps members are accepted based on their applications, they undergo an intensive interview. The procedure includes participating in educational disclosure, as well as a one-on-one teaching session.

The organization received nearly 5000 applications nationally. About 25 percent of those will be accepted into the program. When Teach for America recruits corps members, they try to attract Latinos and African-Americans, to reflect the communities that they are teaching in.

The corps members span all levels, kindergarten through grade 12, and teach in all areas, including bilingual, English as a second language and special education. They undergo an intense training program before entering the classroom and work closely with mentors throughout their two- year term. Although the corps members can indicate a preference of where they would like to teach, it's up to Teach for America to place them.
Assignments are based on what kind of college coursework a corps members has taken in relationship to district requirements, the corps member's preferences in locations the school district needs.

Teach for America wants its corps members to make a two-year commitment to the community and student, and highly discouraged from breaking the contracts. Typically, these individuals have a lot more time during their second yea to give back to the community. Teach for America contracts with various schools districts, which in turn hire corps members as regular teachers. The schools are selected based on a certain percentage of free and reduced lunch population and demand for quality teachers. The organization is trying to create education equality so they concentrate where there is a high need for teachers. The organization also tries to place a number of corps members in the same school so they can support each other. With 10 years behind them, Teach for America has experimented a steady growth and bracing itself for more success. On a national scale, Teach for America is hoping to do more than double it's number of active corps members in the next few years from approximately 1500 to 4000.

There are many ways to measure the success of this organization. The success of this organization speaks for itself; indicating the growing number of people interested in improving public education. For those who have become corps members and chose not to stay in education, it was a learning experience for them, and a gift to the children whose lives and minds they challenged to reach for excellence in learning.

Careers and Education

Education has become the most important bipartisan issue in government, and rightfully so. Senator John Kerry, (D) Massachusetts commented, "Every CEO in America will tell you that we need a better educated workforce."

It is clear that unfettered access to higher education and vocational skills training for all Americans in need will facilitate a way up and out of socio-economic despair. But more to the point of this report, social equity in the form of a National Higher Education Tuition Subsidy Initiative, will make the cycle of social and economic disparity a relic of a 'Type Zero' past.

Government may not be able to solve all social problems, but education policy and social services policy are critical responsibilities of an effective, progressive government and its leadership. The government belongs to the people, the taxpayer, and government is obligated to serve the interests of its citizens first. And not the special interests of industry.

Our state and federal officials should take on a different, more pro-active role of leadership, in cooperation with corporate America, and various public and private entities--to remedy what is ultimately a long term socio-economic crisis. A crisis that is preventing the steady, strong and prosperous growth of our country's most vital resource, the low and middle income citizen unable to afford higher education and thus, improve their living standard. Tax cuts and supply-side economics will not reverse society's growing inhumanity, which is fueled by socio-economic class disparity. Guaranteed access to higher education and job retraining for all American citizens so that all may prosper, thus enabling the economy to prosper--is the only long term solution that will.

By the year 2050, in a theoretical Type One future society, a more enlightened stage of societal development, all of the world's governments will realize the value for the new economy, in providing nationally subsidized college and vocational education as well as lifelong job-retraining, for all it's the world's citizens. By 2100, this will be the world standard for higher education.

Until and leading up to that future time of change, all Americans, especially state and federal officials, should search for and consider transitional solutions to help the financially challenged meet the skyrocketing costs of higher education.

A Higher Education Earned Tuition Subsidy Initiative:
Expand the duties and scope of the Civil Service Corps

One of the purposes of the H. E. 2050 Report is to propose transitional solutions to the issue of higher tuition subsidy, to state and federal government agencies and officials. Transitional solutions, such as an national infrastructure refurbishing program to rebuild out nation's schools, bridges, and provide aide in the form of response duties and labor resources in time of national emergencies and national disasters, such as hurricanes and flood damage. A work for tuition subsidy program that will lead to higher education tuition-free scholarship guaranteed to every American citizen in need. This type of initiative needs further study at the state and federal level.

This is a proposal for the study of the feasibility of expanded duties or a new branch of the Federal Civil Service Corps; its purpose, to give financially challenged citizens, or those ineligible for military service and the Montgomery GI Bill, the opportunity to serve their country by helping to rebuild and renovate the national infrastructure, including its civil and communications technologies, in exchange for full college earned tuition subsidy.

Expanding the Civil Service Corps is not such a radical idea when one takes into account the number of existing branches of military and government agencies, several of which are expanding even further. For example, the U.S. Air force expanding and establishing the U.S. Space Command, etc., literally, going where no one has gone before. The Army Corps of Engineers is a branch of the U.S. Army and its sole duty is to national civil engineering projects and emergency response in times of natural disasters and national emergencies.

A New Civil Service Corps

Our federal government could create a new non-military branch of the Civil Service Corps or expand it, enlisting adults age 21-55, in a non-military service corps role, committed to state, federal, and eventually international works that advance the infrastructure. A new Civil Service Corps branch, under the authority of:
Army Corps of Engineers
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Citizens Scholarship Foundation of America
Red Cross
Corporation for National Service
American Association of State Service Commissions
U. S. Green Buildings Council
Habitat for Humanity
National Association of Service and Conservation Corps
Society for Human Resource Management
National League of Cities, the Peace Corps
Americorps Incorporated
UNICEF
Cisco Systems Networking Academies Worldwide
Microsoft Corporation
American Federation of Teachers
Teach for America
U.S. Department of Education
Association of the U.S. Army
General Accounting Office
World Bank
Common Fund Group
National Association of College and University Business Officers

The very act of not pursuing the guaranteed higher education of all Americans as an earned entitlement is archaic and barbaric. NO ONE should be denied a college education or vocational training for lack of funds or an inability to afford tuition. It is truly a sign of just how primitive and greed driven the human race is.

The existing higher education scholarships, grants, and loans are wholly inadequate to meet the needs of all American students that cannot afford college tuition. Thus, they do little to elevate social disparity. The federal and state education and social service agencies need to be integrated and retooled, merged together. New programs should be tailored to provide adequate solutions for future generations beyond the Millennial Generation. New programs should empower its participants, as well as build character, civic responsibility and leadership skills.

Concerned citizens should form a grassroots coalition to advocate for higher education tuition subsidy initiative proposals, and develop effective solutions and collective strategies to help disadvantaged Americans in need to receive a college education or vocational training. Please take note of the following solution oriented proposal.

A New Civil Service Corps Branch
The H.E 2050 Report proposes the creation a combined new branch of the Civil Service Corps from the Education Department, the existing Civil Service Corps, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Army National Guard, Army Reserves, U.S. Marines, and the U.S. Air Force. This non-military branch for citizens ineligible for military service and the Montgomery G.I. Bill, would be committed to rebuilding and upgrading the infrastructure of America and eventually international civil works interests abroad, to include:
• Civil and communication technologies projects; the infrastructure of the Unites States of America, and international civil works interests abroad. Infrastructure 'Green Conversion' projects.
• Primary and secondary schools, high schools, vocational schools, colleges and universities. Rebuilding, refurbishing and extensions.
• Affordable housing. Apprenticeship training in all levels of contracting and carpentry.
• Maintaining the coastlines, waterworks and flood controls.
• Civil and communications engineering support for roads and freeways, bridges, power plants and airports.
• Emergency disaster support in the event of storms, floods and earth quakes.
• Infrastructure support to military bases and theater operations.
• Four-year (48 months) and two-year (24 months) service contracts, respectively, to serve in the Civil Service Corps in exchange for bachelor degree level, graduate or vocational full earned tuition subsidy, matched dollar for dollar by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Undergraduate and graduate service enlistment for healthy eligible adults age 21 to 55, in financial need.
• A binding enlistment agreement with eight weeks of military orientation and 90 concurrent days of ongoing physical conditioning and on the job training in various select support services, specific to each enlistee's established skills and aptitude evaluations.
• Civil Service Corps enlistees are paid an annual earned subsidy credit of $15,000 for college tuition, plus free on base meals and dormitory housing, by taxpayer funds, which are matched dollar for dollar, by the U. S. Dept. of Education, the World Bank, and the Common Fund Group, for a total annual earned tuition subsidy of $30,000 per enlistee.

Most Civil Service Corps projects would involve the building construction trades, also support training in new composite technology used in dynamic structural engineering, and leading edge communications technologies such as fiber optics and digital technology used in communications conversion. Initial Civil Service Corps projects might involve refurbishing and rebuilding schools and businesses in empowerment zones communities, and dormitory housing and study libraries for new Civil Service Corps enlistees, on or near military bases, Army Reserve or National Guard locations in every state of America.

Graduate Student Commissions
The Civil Service Tuition Subsidy Proposal should also be available to masters and doctorial graduate students in the form of 12 and 24 month contracts. Those graduate students in need should be placed in tuition free teachers training and certification, and be placed in entry level supervisory positions on Civil Service Corps projects. They would receive $30,000 annually in earned tuition subsidy credit towards graduate studies. Candidates would enlist in record numbers just for the free training alone, as well as the opportunity to serve their country in such an immediate way.

With two-thirds of high school students attending college, the future trend will be an increase in adult education. There is a shortage of qualified teachers today. That shortage will only increase in the next several decades, unless incentives are created to entice college graduates to become trained certified teachers. This is the only resource to ensure that classes will be small enough to adequately educate all students, and that there will always be a teaching workforce to adequately cover any increases in student populations.

No High School Graduates Under 21
In order to keep high school graduates interested in regular military service, the Montgomery G.I. Bill should be raised to $25,000 annually for college tuition subsidy. Both annual figures for the G.I. Bill and the Civil Service Corps graduate tuition subsidy should be of equal amounts, and adjusted for inflation and the average national costs of a quality college or university, administered by the Department of Education.

A Serious Mission
A new Civil Service Corps, charged with infrastructure renewal here in the U. S. and abroad, would assist in the overall mission of the Armed Forces. Along with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Civil Service Corps would be the only branch of the government involved with direct, hands-on infrastructure development. Although it would be a non-military service, enlistees in the Civil Service Corps would be subject to the laws of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and afforded all the basic rights and services, legal, medical and dental, therein. This would ensure that the participants are living and working up to the highest standards.

Early Discharge
Early discharge from the service contracts for reasons other than severe illness and or injury, the participant will forfeit the accumulated matching funds of the tuition subsidy credit. The discharged participant would be prohibited from reenlisting for six months, similar to military service restrictions. Alleged violators of the UCMJ would be subject to formal adjudication, and in instances of proven violations, would face immediate expulsion from the Civil Service Corps and forfeit half of the accumulated earned tuition subsidy credit account as well as all matching subsidy funds. Any remaining earned subsidy income would be placed in an IRA account and unavailable for withdrawal for no less than one year, and subject to taxes and penalties upon early withdrawal.

A New Beginning
A Civil Service Corps earned tuition subsidy program would give individual adults financially unable to afford the exorbitant costs of higher education and those who are ineligible for military service, and in some cases, reformed felony offenders (subject to periodical probationary review for the duration of their enlistment), the opportunity not only to improve their lives, but to also serve their country. For most if not all, it would be a merciful second chance.

Evening Academy Programs
A Civil Service Corps Tuition Subsidy Program must have established 'Evening Academy' education programs in cooperation with a national network of colleges, universities and other institutions. This would enable participants in the CS Corps to take accredited Liberal Arts courses while enlisted. The graduate students commissioned in management contract service would also earn teaching certifications by teaching at Evening Academies.

Working off Defaulted Loans
This type of CSC Tuition Subsidy program should also allow for the working repayment of defaulted college loans serving in the teachers training program and working at national Evening Academies. Participants should be allowed to enlist in 12, 24, or 48 month earned income service contracts, matched to the amount of debt owed, while training to be a teacher; a commission in the CSC for free teacher's certification training.

Free On-Base Housing
For CS Corps workers living out of state or abroad on projects, dormitory housing and all meals would be provided on the nearest military base or Army National Guard or Reserve Installation. Medical and dental services would also be provided. Home city workers should be allowed to live with their family, if their home is within one mile of the project site, military base or reserve location, and only after basic military induction training.
The New Civil Right

Access to quality higher education and vocational training must become an guaranteed investment by our government in its citizens; a democratic, human right, protected under the constitution, as interpreted in its clause of --"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This should not be a privilege-- attainable only a small, wealthy fraction of Americans. Financial inability should not be a factor in accessing higher skills training. Citizenship, aptitude, and ambition should.

NO ONE SHOULD BE TURNED AWAY FROM THE COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY OF THEIR CHOICE BECAUSE OF A LACK OF TUITION FUNDING, or race, creed, gender, age, orientation, or because only a limited number of students can be accepted by a particular curriculum. If a student meets the minimum standards for entrance and has the determined ambition to learn, colleges, universities and vocational institutions should expand their campuses and hire more educators to accommodate all students; no one should be excluded.

The H.E. 2050 Report argues for the fact that the human resource is the most precious, yet unfortunately, the most easily discarded commodity that this country possesses. It is to our disgrace as Americans citizens, that we allow this particular state of social inequity to exist and continue to grow unchecked. It must be confronted and reversed, well before 2050.

Exponential Economic Progress

The worse case scenario of a new social education policy to fund a national higher education tuition subsidy program is the initial burden it will place on the first generation of taxpayers strapped with the new initiative. But it is a sacrifice that the overwhelming majority of Americans will be happy to bear; a patriotic challenge that they will not fail to meet head on and carry on their shoulders, for their children and their children's children, so that future generations of this, the freest nation in the land, will have a brighter, more prosperous future. From this perspective, similar to the national effort in time of war, the burden will be negligible, in relation to the goal, the outcome of a stronger economy, and a better educated, better skilled , more competent labor force.

A detailed argument in favor of this Type One Initiative, a new social education policy for expanding the duties and scope of the Civil Service Corps in order for participants to earn individual higher education tuition subsidy financial credit follows:

1) This type of National Tuition Subsidy program will add more skilled professionals and entrepreneurs to the national workforce, increasing exponentionally by the third decade of the program's inception. The tuition subsidy initiative will pay for itself within a generation, and keep itself and other social programs solvent in perpetuity.

2) This program will transform the, thus salvage the disappearing middle socio-economic class and the ever growing lower class, the working poor and underemployed, into a mass population of empowered, highly skilled, entrepreneurial minded citizens, with a far greater ability to move up the economic ladder. Access to higher skills training will reverse the welfare rolls and the plight of critical social conditions such as poverty and homelessness, unemployment, crime and antisocial behavior, and mental illness, all within one generation of the program's full running.

3) This program will invigorate the pioneering entrepreneurial spirit of the American marketplace and industry. It is a 'Type One' initiative that is an investment in the future prosperity of the economy of America, that just makes good long term business sense.

It is a multi-layered solution to save the middle class. A 'New Social Education Agenda' based upon the proposed expanded CS Corps model outlined in this report, that would provide the disciplined opportunity necessary to empower the poorer and financially disadvantaged citizens of America, more than any other social service or education assistance program.

Its implementation would help the financially disadvantaged to earn a way out of their social dilemma by enabling them through hard work and service, to pursue higher skills training, which will in turn, ensure greater economic empowerment.

This program model will also help the participants to regain a sense of purpose lost in past hopelessness, and regain a new appreciation for a nation that supports its citizens' intellectual growth and full social development. Upon completion of each participants CSC service contract and collegiate education or vocational training, the grateful newly employed graduates will return the favor to their fellow citizens by becoming gainfully employed new members of the greater, taxpaying workforce population.

This new influx of multi-skilled professionals and craftsmen and women will help to build a stronger infrastructure and economy, a less disposable society, and keep the CSC service for earned tuition subsidy program and other efficient social and education programs solvent for future generations.

A legendary western actor and outspoken staunch political conservative believed that the poorer minority social classes should remain subservient to the middle and upper classes, "until they are better educated." Therein lies the rub, the problem with the current western socio-economic caste system. Without full access to quality higher education, there will always be a poorer, subservient lower class. The fair process of eliminating poverty and the working poor through higher educational opportunities will never be complete. This process, as it stands today, is unnatural to true democracy for the 21st century. It must be finally eliminated and come to an end by the year 2020, if we are to build up the first generation of CSC graduates and salvage the vanishing middle class from extinction, and build a brighter future by the year 2050.

Part Three

The Blue State / Red State War:
New Type One Initiatives versus the Obstructionist
Type Zero Centered Status Quo

The reaction to controversial theories is automatic. The belief system that's threatened by the virulent new strain of thought defends itself. It attacks using
a broad array of weapons against the nonconformist. Ridicule and disrespect are like antibodies secreted by the autoimmune system to destroy the offending knowledge.

But don't worry. The fittest idea always survives!
The theories for which you've been ridiculed, once released into the belief system, can't be put back into the bottle. One day they'll sweep the weaker ideas away and be accepted as indisputable fact because they are the more persuasive, the more compelling.

Society of The Mind by Eric L. Harry

We must continually think outside of the comfort of selfish convention. Society's inequities are preventable only, through the vigilance of positive, progressive people.

Totalitarianism defined, is an authoritative government formed by an alliance of conservative industrialists, whose selfish, greed-based interests dominate government policy, and have an irrational, often unlawful and undemocratic control over the prosperity of its citizens.

Which society would you prefer to live in?

Explore the Potential of Type One Initiatives

All taxpayers and politically conscious voters of the domestic and general issues of this age must seriously investigate the plausibility of Type One Initiatives that build up the national infrastructure, help to fund higher education for all Americans in need, and add millions of new taxpayers and revenue in the long term to the national workforce.

Type One Initiatives that train new teachers to build up the primary, secondary, and collegiate educating workforce. Type One Initiatives that raises the civic responsibility of its participants through national and international public works projects that also allow them to see the world and their future in a new light, through service to their country.

Type One Initiatives are neither a conservative nor a liberal agenda. It is an humanitarian, social agenda; an attempt to enrich our socio-economic system by empowering all Americans into action. This is not an agenda to be implemented in the year 2050. Concerned citizens should form grass roots coalitions to explore the plausibility of all Type One Initiatives such as hydrogen fuel cell power transportation, photovoltaic solar roof panel conversion for uninterrupted, grid-free home energy, and earned tuition subsidy programs, to be implemented within the next several decades, and well refined by the year 2050.

Type One Initiatives should not be cavalierly dismissed. Suppressed progressive initiatives that would have revolutionized our daily lives by the end of the 20th century, and progressed society much further along by the mid 21st century, are yet to see the light of day. We must stop allowing the current obstructionist Type Zero establishment to continue to suppress Type One initiatives.

The Higher Education 2050 Report
The New Movement for National Higher Tuition Subsidy Initiatives
Compiled
By
Gene Walker

CONTENTS

Part One
A Vision for the Future:
A Summary of Type Zero through Type Four Civilizations Theory

Part Two
Open Access:
The Call for a National Forum on Social Engineering and Future Subsidized Higher Education Tuition Initiatives

Part Three
The Blue State / Red State War:
New Type One Initiatives versus the Obstructionist Type Zero Centered Status Quo

Introduction

This report was compiled based upon: The research of Dr. Michio Kaku, PHD., m.kaku.org; U.S. Green Buildings Council, 2001 United Nations Population Study, 2001 Princeton Research Study, 2000 Census, 2001 AARP 50 and Beyond Report, 2001 Harvard Civil Rights Project, Working Class Academics, National Center for Education, Educational Research Center, Center for Public Outreach, Internet Society, Citizens Scholarship Foundation America, K-12.com, Achieve Incorporated, Media Research Center for the Study of Popular Culture, Foundation For A Better Life, Young Americans Foundation, American Association of School Administrators, Council of Great City Schools; 2001 Texas Workforce Development Act authorized by Texas State Senator Robert Ellis and Texas State Representative Brian McCall; Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization Act authored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and Senator Patrick Leahy; Common Fund Group, National Association of College and University Business Officers; William Gates Foundation, Cisco Systems Networking Academy Worldwide; U.S. Army, Association of the U.S. Army, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Army National Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force; Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity International, Federal Emergency Management Agency; American Association of Service and Conservation Corps, Society For Human Resource Management, Cael Organization, The Peace Corps., National League of Cities, Americorps Alums Inc., UNICEF, People For The American Way, American Federation of Teachers, Institute For American Values, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Organization For Women, Teach For America, Troops To Teachers, Institute For Civil Society, Black Alliance for Educational Options, Character Counts Coalition, Institute of Ethics, Institute of Medicine, American Medical Association, Congressional Research Service; United States General Accounting Office, Center for Defense Information, University of Houston Energy Institute, Cato Institute, International Hydrogen Society, National Institute for Discovery Sciences, National Renewable Energy Lab, Energy Foundation, Federation of American Scientists, Campaign For America's Future, Brookings Institute, Futurist.Org., Institute for Aeronautical Sciences, Space For Peace. Org., Disclosure Project.Org., 11th Hour.Org., Alfred P. Sloane Foundation, CG Jung Institute, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This report was also compiled from articles and books from a broad range of sources: Stanley Crouch, Associated Press, Reuters, Mary Beth Marklein, Erline Andrews, Michelle Malkin, Laurence McQuillan, Debbie Burns, Alice Adams, Tamara Henry, Clarence Page, Dwayne Hickman; Theodore Dalrymple, author of Life At The Bottom: Worldview That Makes The Underclass; Joseph C. Phillips, John McWhorter, Shelby Steele, Tavis Smiley, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, John Edgar Widerman; William H. Grier and Price M. Cobbs, authors of the book Black Rage; Eric L. Harry, Wade Henderson, Mariette DiChristina; and Worldwatch Chairman Lester Brown.
Part One

A Vision for the Future:
A Summary of Type Zero through Type Four Civilizations Theory

According to Dr. Michio Kaku, Professor of Theoretical Physics and Author of several books forecasting social engineering of the future, "The next one hundred years will be the greatest period of transition in human history. We will either evolve as a civilization or self destruct." Dr. Kaku is a forecaster of technological advances and their probable timelines, a technical futurist. He rates this theoretical timeline from 'Type Zero' to 'Type Four', on a sliding linear scale probable technological and societal advancement.

A 'Type Zero Civilization', our current state of technological sophistication, is dominated by the combustion engine, fossil fuel energies and the current silicon chip based information technologies. As a Type Zero Civilization we are technologically "challenged". Dr. Kaku predicts that over the next on hundred years, among the next generation of technology to enable us, there will be:
• Technology that will enhance the home office.
• Optical and quantum computers will replace silicon chip based technology.
• Hydrogen, fuel cells, solar, wind and new conversion energy technologies will transform the consumer product, energy and transportation industries into 'Green' or environmentally friendly industries.
• The practical application of sentient, simple artificial intelligence, and the national legislative debate over sentient cyber evolution and its probable consequences.
• Mankind's growing knowledge of human genetics, particularly in the fields of cell rejuvenation and curative disease therapies, will enable biotechnology and medical science to slow the aging process and common illness significantly.
• Many new discoveries will be made in areas that relate to the human brain; memory and retention, negative to positive behavior modification, brain illness such as Alzheimer's disease and senility, treatment for brain injury caused by exterior forces such as combat or blunt trauma; and exactly how the brain functions, learns, grows, repairs itself and changes throughout the course of a human lifetime. Science will identify in detail the relationship between lifelong neurological fitness, targeted nutrition and exercise physiology, alpha-beta megahertz resonance biofeedback, light therapy, and lifelong education and intellectual stimulation, as preventive measures against neurological illness and aging. Lifelong learning will be widely acknowledged as the key component to good, balanced mental and neurological health.

• Machine parts and products will be manufactured at the molecular level.
• New physics altering energy technologies such as magnetic field propulsion and zero point energy generation will become commonplace.

Mankind will reach a new era in technological advancement. The birth of a 'Type One' level of civilization by 2150, a planetary culture with one world language will germinate.

According to Dr. Kaku's theoretical forecast, the next one thousand years after this first evolutionary step, mankind will become colonists, again:
• Human civilization will utilize both intelligent interstellar probes and manned exploration to slowly branch out on or near the exotic, hostile real estate of the outer planets and their moons, within our solar system and among neighboring star systems.
• Mankind will harness the energy of various forms of fusion, magnetic field propulsion and dark matter, and have a working knowledge of dimensional space travel.
• At this stage of human evolution, mankind will truly have the technological capacity to create what could only exist previously in a design engineer's imagination.
• Animal protein will no longer be a part of the human diet, nor will animals be raised for consumption. New vegetable and soy based products that mimic the flavor, smell and taste consistency will be indistinguishable to the palate from animal protein. Other forms of nutritional supplement delivery such as transdermal cellular, thermogenic and phytonutritional biotechnologies will become commonplace, further expanding the limits of health and longevity.

Scientific and technological sophistication will transform the planetary culture. During this period, it is predicted that mankind will evolve into a 'Type Two' civilization.

After this eleven hundred year period, in the following one hundred thousand year period, it is predicted that mankind will become a 'Type Three', then a 'Type Four' civilization.

• Nearly immortal in one quantum interconnected aspect or another, mankind will finally be an 'adult peer', as a practical analogy, among a vast sentient, multiverse faring, terraforming community.

But for the purpose of this report, let us return to our present Type Zero reality and focus on our current pressing societal demands…
Those demands, or growing pains, as a better analogy, in the context of this higher education tuition subsidy initiatives report, include:

• Energy and Housing: The push for continuous improvement, fueled by growing impatience and outrage among the population over one 'engineered' energy crisis after another and the blatant extortion by
the electricity and fossil fuel parent companies and energy industry barons, is forcing new thinking and the development of new 'Green' energy technologies for uninterruptible clean power-- other than the old transitional hybrid technologies, oil, natural gas and nuclear power. Green technologies such as wind, solar, tidal, true hydrogen cell, and zero point energies research, will and must replace quick-fixes, corporate manipulation and greed motivated defense of the status quo. One example of a practical solution to home energy concerns is to pass green legislation on regulations affecting existing and future home building. Each existing home not registered as a historic site and each new home built must incorporate Unisol type photovoltaic solar electric panel roof shingles in place of old regular roof shingles as a mandatory regulation. These Unisol shingle 'solar homes' can sell any access electricity directly back to the power companies daily or store it, thus drastically reducing or eliminating their energy bill. This is a labor intensive new green technology must also be applied to convert older homes and would be covered by home owners insurance. Unisol shingles would have to be replaced after a prescribed period, thus keeping creating thousands of new jobs and a supporting new infrastructure related industry.

• Education: As knowledge increases and technology makes information instantly available, a new era of scholarly enlightenment will emerge. Secondary schools will need to refocus of teaching civic responsibility and leadership skills training. A renaissance of interest in ethics will be inspired by a concern about societal inequities in educational opportunities and its resulting effect, moral decay. Information technology solutions such as online education will improve and increase the efficiency of access to higher education and increase the speed of cultural advancement. For example, as the reach of technology and the need for continual adult education and skills training expands, more and more educational opportunities will be enhanced by use of the internet, cable television and other technologies that allow distance learning; particularly online institutional learning. There is a hurdle however, federal copyright laws.

• Senator Orin Hatch, R-Utah and Senator Patrick Healy, D-Vermont introduced a bill in that exempted educators from fees to use copyrighted materials such as sound bites and images from media and movies for students who take classes over the internet or television in distance learning programs. Current copyright law allows schools to avoid paying royalties for classroom materials. But distance programs, which use broadcast technologies to deliver lessons, are required to secure licenses, sometimes as considerable expense. A 1999 report from the Copyright Office recommended several changes to the U.S. Copyright Law, including exemptions for distance learning programs. Hatch and Leary's Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act, or TEACH, incorporates many of the recommendations, according to a Reuters report.

• Competition will increase as industries and professions intensify their efforts to attract and keep talented people. Each state should make educator's pensions portable, similar to an IRA rollover account.

The pace of change will quicken. State and federal education programs and policy must adapt to meet the pace of this change.

To a Type Zero inheritor, man's ascension from a beneficiary to a stewardship position, the 'Type Four' pinnacle, must seem far beyond the sphere of plausible reality; the equivalent of some surreal interaction with an advanced, elder, other-worldly civilization; a course-altering, stewardship civilization that is thousands, perhaps millions of years or more, our senior. In the future, this is what our human civilization will become.

Human civilization is headed toward this inevitable future. But what is of primary importance, and the motive for this report, is the path and rate of the managed, socially engineered, "baby steps", our Type Zero civilization takes toward that Type One future. That rate and the course of technological timeline advancement, is directly proportional to our current total population's quality of primary and secondary education, and most importantly, our access to quality higher education. Specifically, the continual retraining of the older workforce, as technology changes, throughout their working careers. And, the guaranteed provision beyond
secondary education to higher education, collegiate and or vocational education, for all American citizens; everyone, without the current greed- driven financial barriers that exclude the poorer, or less fortunate socio-economic classes from access to higher education.

Other factors that are influence a society's rate and course of Type One growth involve its overall quality of health care and, each individual citizen's responsibility towards their own prosperity; their contribution to their own social progression, economic solvency and overall quality of life. The issue of quality lifelong education and career training is the primary determining factor for a successful life. A population with a far greater number of highly educated, skilled citizens will accelerate the perpetual timeline rate of Type One social progression.

As a practical analogy, when a farmer adds the right nutrients to his soil, the resulting crop grows up stronger, healthier and more abundant for the market, than the neglected field. The crop given little or no attention will yield a weak, unhealthy, unpredictable harvest; and eventually, incapable of sustaining life.

Similarly, for improved, accelerated social economic progress, all of the essential societal safeguards must be in place to ensure that the mass population will have absolutely NO greed-based, man-made barriers to limit their individual intellectual growth, and socio-economic opportunities for prosperity.

A graduate level college education is as much an important necessity in today's modern global society, as is a good primary and secondary educational foundation. They are interconnected and absolutely necessary to be a competent adult and be competitive in the modern professional workforce.

A college education must be redefined as a civil right, entitled to all Americans regardless of their ability to pay tuition, and NOT a privilege, accessible by only a minor fraction of upper middle class and wealthy citizens. The mid to lower socio-economic classes are not merely cannon fodder for our armed forces, or service industry workers, resolved to their "lot in life". They have hopes and professional aspirations for a better, more prosperous life, just like the wealthier classes. A constitutional amendment is necessary to ensure that future generations will be able to reach their educational career goals.

Journalist David F. Donnelly asks the question, in a review of author Jonathan Margolis' book, A Brief History of Tomorrow, "What does the future hold?"

The question has been addressed by countless thinkers, scholars, scientists and pundits. When presented by themselves, their scenarios are powerful and seductive. When gathered together side by side, the inconsistencies and contradictions begin to undermine the confidence we place in those who espouse visions of what will be.

In writing his book, author and journalist Jonathan Margolis set out to compile the latest thinking on mankind's future for the next century. In addition to listing forecasts, he talked with futurists all over the world. An admitted skeptic, Mr. Margolis nevertheless came to believe that routinely disparaging serious forecasting of future societies is "unfair and un informed" and that forecasters of the past "do not seem to have done nearly as bad as we imagine."

In fact, he asserts that, over time we have gotten better at predicting the future, and today we can do so with increasing confidence, if we are aware of common pitfalls and attend to certain guiding principles. For example, he argues that we must practice "knights-move thinking" and go beyond extrapolating current trends in a straight line---that we must "think around corners" and anticipate when to step to the side. He also says forecasters must avoid the "arrogance of the present. "

Perhaps the most important perspective to adapt is that the future is not something that happens to us, but something "we create." In forecasting negative trends in technology and society, global warming/climate change,for example, scientists and futurists hope they will be wrong, but via their dire warnings, they also modify our behavior to prevent such a troubled future.

So forecasting is not a neutral activity; it can reveal choices. By making the connection between the past, present and the future, it can show us that our actions today help create the world tomorrow.

William Blake wrote, "When the doors of perception are cleansed, man will see things as they truly are, infinite."

Part Two

The Call for a Forum on Social Engineering and the Future of Subsidized Higher Education Tuitions

Dr. Michio Kaku's Type Zero through Type Four Civilizations Theory forecasts a progressive future society that is not greed driven. It is a vision of a future democratic society motivated by humanitarianism, scholarly knowledge, scientific and technological discovery. This probable future direction is in opposition, literally at war with the current greed based interests, which rail against all fair-minded initiatives to correct our society's course.

We are at a critical juncture in our evolution as a democratic society, but we seem to be in a holding pattern. And, in many respects, humanity seems to be reversing its evolutionary path. If every American citizen, unable to afford the high costs of a four to six year college education were given the opportunity, in the long term these newly educated, upwardly mobile citizens would revitalize our national economy. Many would become entrepreneurs.

The Future of Higher Education Tuition:
Three Questions for Your Consideration.

1) Question: 50 years from now, what will the average costs of a college tuition be? Keep in mind that the average college tuition was $15,000 to $20,000 per year in 1990, with an average increase of $5,000 to $10,000 per decade. And, if college expenses average anywhere from $2,000 to $2,500 per year in 2001, at the 3 to 5 percent annual rate fees are climbing, imagine what tuition costs will be 50 years from now?

Answer: For the sake of simplifying the answer, let's determine that the $500 to $1000 increase rate continues per decade. 50 years from now, the average college tuition will be $65,000 to $70,000 per year!

2) Question: If the majority of American families cannot afford to pay the exorbitant costs of tuition in 2001 (the date of this report), how will future generations of under educated, low skilled working families be able to afford four to six years of higher education for each of their children with a potential price tag of $260,000 to $280,000 per child?

Answer: No one can answer this question definitively. But, at the rate we are going, unless there is a significant change in the interests of our greed driven culture, with regard to the higher education industry, including our government's education policy, a quality education will remain a privilege available only to wealthy families. And the United States will continue to become a nation within a nation of second class, under educated, unskilled, serf majority population. Ever increasingly disadvantaged and disillusioned, and at the mercy of big industry and a small, wealthy, elitist, policy making ruling caste--an ameritocracy, that sees them only as an easily replaceable, easily discarded service labor pool; or by the military industrial complex, that sees them only as easily replaceable, easily discarded cannon fodder, but tells them its their patriotic duty to serve, and dangles the carrot known as the Montgomery G.I. Bill as an irresistible incentive.

1) Question: Is the profit driven higher education industry a deliberate attempt to exclude the poorer and less advantaged socio-economic classes from the higher education skills training necessary to become self determining, productive citizens and raise their economic standing?

Answer: Whether it intentionally serves this purpose or not, there is an ever increasing gap in resources and opportunities between socio-economic classes that is a direct result of unequal access to higher education. The hard blunt truth is that our greed-driven higher education industry is directly responsible for this of national crisis of social and economic disparity. Sadly, it will continue to be unless radical new policies are implemented to ensure equal access to higher education and skills training regardless of economic status, for all citizens.

The call for accountability is getting louder. Many of the best-endowed colleges and universities are enjoying remarkable good fortune in recent years, thanks to decent stock market returns and record setting fund raising campaigns. According to the following report by journalist Beth Marklein, more than 40 colleges now report endowments of$1 Billion or more. Even some small liberal arts colleges are on that list. This excessive wealth is beyond the necessary level to ensure a good education and a fair admissions policy. But, what about lowered tuitions, so that the less advantaged may afford to enroll?

Congress too has taken notice that colleges are wealthier than ever. In a Senate hearing held in 2000 addressing rising tuitions, Senator Joseph Liberman, I-Conn., said that many private schools should, "use their endowments to offset costs and lower tuition." Some schools, such as Rice University in Houston, Texas, with a $3.4 Billion endowment in 2000, do just that. Others, led by Princeton, have stopped requiring needy students to take loans and have instead increased scholarship grants.

Most college endowments are fairly young. The idea, centuries old, took root in U. S. higher education during the 1960's and inflationary 1970's, when many colleges and universities were struggling financially. But even in today's uncertain economy, some economists wonder whether spending rules ought to be rewritten when higher education endowments reach a certain size. The last few years have been prosperous for higher education endowments.

Endowments at an unprecedented 41 institutions reached $1 Billion or more in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, according to the annual survey released by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), A Washington non-profit organization. With an average rate of 29.2%, they achieved the rate feat of out performing several broad-market indexes, including Standard & Poor's 500 Index, which showed a 7.2% return for the same period.

Large endowments beget even larger ones. And strong endowment returns mean more money in the operating budget. Many campuses report they are spending recent windfalls on faculty raises and big one-time expenses such as technology upgrades and construction projects. Just as most colleges aspire to do, they don't stray far from a convention that limits endowment spending to no more than about 5% of annual returns on their investments. And now, some endowment managers point to the signs of tough economic times ahead as justification for what some may view as conservative spending policy.

A healthy endowment "provides a certain degree of independence because the college can use it as a rainy-day fund", says John Griswald, a senior vice president (at the time of this writing) of the Connecticut-based Common Fund Group, a non-profit that handles over $30 Billion in investments for about 1,500 universities. Mr. Griswald adds, "One of the things that keeps us up nights is that if the market collapses, you're not only going to have a collapse in the returns, you also have a collapse in people's wealth; so the ability of [working class] people to pay tuition is going to collapse, and the probability other sources of income are going to collapse as well, including donations".

Responsibility or Greed

Even if the economy sours, the wealthiest institutions will likely be the most cushioned from disaster. But where some trustees and investment officials see fiscal responsibility, others see greed, at least when it comes to schools that tout their multi-billion-dollar endowments when courting favor.

Bard College's president Leon Botstein says the enormous wealth "creates an obligation and a duty which many of these institutions have not faced up to." He can think of any number of social ills that could benefit from
higher education reserves---illiteracy and failing public schools come immediately to mind.

But NACUBO financial officer Larry Goldstein says those types of considerations rarely enter discussions of endowment spending because they don't strictly represent a donor's intent. That's not to say colleges aren't doing good deeds--though some might argue that the charity is more of a byproduct than a goal.

Reducing student debt is another goal. Princeton, whose 48.4 Billion endowment has the most to dollars per student, made ripples in January 2001 when trustees voted to replace all loans with grants in awards to students eligible for financial aid. To meet that and other goals, it approved a one time adjustment in its endowment spending policy, increasing the minimum payout on its endowments. The policy was widely praised--and copied by well endowed competitor schools, which managed to scrape up funding similar to Princeton's.

The idea of increasing access to higher education for low income students is laudable and certainly the mission of academe, comments Dr. Gordon Winston, an economics professor at Williams College, who specializes in higher education. "Imagine", he says, "if colleges pooled their riches into a consortium, not only to compete for a finite pool of students, but to improve the education of high school students [and older adults] who might otherwise have not gone to college at all. It would be a lot more socially productive to try and increase the number of low income students."

He doubts that will happen. If a college can boast billions of dollars in endowment money, why does it charge tuition at all?

Administrators at well-endowed institutions hear that from a lot from parents, especially as tuition levels have crept upwards along skyrocketing endowments in recent years. But while colleges say the strong economy of the 1990's enabled them to increase their financial aid pot, don't expect a tuition-free ride anytime soon.

According to the national data for the 1995-96 academic year, the average subsidy in U.S. higher education was $8,700 a year. That is, a student bought an education that costs $12,800, but paid just $4,100 for it (these figures are questionable at best). In most cases, the rest of the costs are covered by endowment income, gifts, grants and other sources such as rental income and sales of collegiate merchandise. There are exceptions…

Cooper Union, an arts, architecture and engineering institute in New York, Brea College in Kentucky, a school founded to serve low-income students in the Appalachian region, both provide tuition-free higher education, with most academic and living costs covered by their endowments. These are noble and progressive examples of 'Type One' initiatives that serve society's higher interests.

Rice University in Houston has long used its endowment--- the 15th largest in 2000 at $3.4 Billion--- to help subsidize tuition costs across the board. In the fall of 2001, new undergraduates paid $23,800 for tuition, room and board---about $10,000 less than Princeton's $33,613. Rice University also limits loan amounts to students.

But that may not be practical for all. Notre Dame in Indiana, for example, had a $3.1 Billion endowment, slightly less than Rice's, but it had 10,600 undergraduate and graduate students, more than Rice's 4,300.

Notre Dame's tuition, room and board for fall 2001 was $30,500. Like many other selective schools, it also increased scholarship aid, thanks to strong endowment returns.

Not everyone agrees that a full tuition subsidy is the best use of resources. To drop tuition altogether would "gold plate an already gold plated education for the nations most affluent families", says Williams economist Gordon Winston.

But the proponents of the H.E. 2050 Report know that full tuition subsidy for poor students and adults is a mission critical duty to ensure a self determining, highly skilled total population of employable Americans. It will also accelerate the economy and technology.

Wealthy families who can afford to pay for their children's education and benefactors who choose to finance the tuition of a deserving adult, should be able to deduct a greater percentage of the costs of tuition on their tax returns. Any effort to bless all American citizens with a higher education, to allow everyone to receive the higher skills training that will enable them to be productive and self-sufficient, should be supported. It requires a change in the attitudes of society, business, and industry, from a greed-based perspective to the realization that this is a fundamental, humanitarian issue. Wealthy families and individuals who can afford to pay their own way must be rewarded with greater tax incentives. Mr. Winston is viewing full tuition subsidy from a short-sighted, 'Type Zero' perspective. Nothing changes if nothing changes. For the sake of our poorest, or less fortunate American citizens, it is time to think and operate beyond the confines of the status quo; for the sake of our collective future.

The National Commission on Higher Education, chastised education leaders in 1999 for failing to adequately explain the exorbitant costs of college tuitions to parents; but the commission also concluded that "American higher education remains an extraordinary value", and families must share in the responsibility of paying it.

There must be another way--a better way.

There are practical solutions to help the less fortunate of our Americans to improve their educational opportunities in life. But first, our state and federal officials and the mass population of struggling students in real need of tuition assistance, need to publicly voice their outrage at the existing policies that the higher education industry and the U.S. Department of Education have been engaged in for many decades. We must expand the debate over access to higher education as a constitutional right and eliminate all barriers to higher education for poor and less fortunate Americans.

Only a small percentage of American families and individuals have been able to afford a COLLEGE EDUCATION. Even after the creation of the Montgomery G.I. Bill and an increase in government student loans, education IRA's as well as increased scholarship funding.

There has been a marked progress over the past decades, but the current education funding programs do not adequately assist adult poor and lower income citizens in covering the costs of higher education and job retraining.

The 2007 U.S. Senate will debate a bill that will have repercussions for the long term health care and education of minority populations in the country. The 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill proposes to restore funding to a cadre of university programs that aim to increase minority enrollment for health related degrees, support minorities once enrolled, and encourage research in health issues relevant to underrepresented minorities or URMs.

Called Centers of Excellence and Health Career Opportunities Programs, the facilities have been facing decreasing funding since 2004. Only four of 34 centers received state money in 2006, the others were left grappling for other sources of funding for programs they say ultimately improve minority health care.

A 2000 study by the Institute of Medicine found that one reason people don't seek medical care is because they want to see a doctor of their own culture or one who understands their culture. The American Medical Association reported in 2007 that only 15 percent of doctors in the U.S. are minorities. Both situations may contribute to the troubling health care disparities between white Americans and minorities in the country. The [problem is becoming more urgent as the size of minority populations grow in comparison to previous statistics.

The bush administration and the Republican led congress had been choking off funding for the programs, which are called Title VII, a label for initiatives that help people from communities deemed "underserved." The administration has proposed eliminating them.

The fate of the bill, which may give the programs at most $52.9 million in funding (an increase of more than 100 percent over last year's allocation), is uncertain. It's likely to pass the now Democratic dominated Senate, but Mr. Bush has threatened to veto it.

A 2000 audit of the U.S. Education Department found $450 Million in fleecing of taxpayer revenues by the department itself; $200 Million alone in unauthorized Education Department employee waste and fraud.

$450 Million in United States Education Department fleecing, waste and fraud! There was more than ten times the amount of fleecing going on than actually assisting American taxpaying families and individual adult students in financial need! This is not only a crime it is a national moral disgrace! Our elected officials should either replace the entire administration and majority of staff at the U.S. Education Department or eliminate the department altogether, replacing it with a better system of federal and state education regulating institutions for each level of educational like. One state and federal division for pre K through Grade 5, another for 6th through 12th Grades and a separate governing state and federal institution for higher education and vocational training, founded by new tuition subsidy initiatives. Separate Education Departments would also make accountability easier.

Just imagine how many innovations, new entrepreneurs, new teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists and computer mavericks, new cures to medical and societal illnesses, new upwardly mobile, self-determining, self-empowered new minds--- American citizens truly living up to all their God-given potential, that this nation can and will produce---if our state and federal government and their national education policies, were as committed to making higher education and life-long retraining available-- tuition free, to all in need. Just imagine…

Lack of Access to Higher Education:
The Catalyst of American Youth's Ridiculous Antisocial Behavior

For several generations, the poorest, less fortunate segment of the American population has been undermined, desensitized and targeted by the purveyors of alcohol, drugs, violent content, pornography, chronic consumerism, the cult of mediocre celebrity, and encouraged ignorant , antisocial behavior; i.e. popular culture.

A sign of the decline of Western civilization; antisocial, unintelligent behavior is increasingly glorified by popular sports and entertainment; which is in turn emulated by our children and less than mature adults. Coarseness and social insensitivity have been infused into the popular tastes of our nation's purposely misdirected youth and gullible, under educated adults.

There is a startling statistic out that approximately 41 million adults in America cannot read well enough to fill out a job application or basic form.

There are fewer traditional families. The family unit, regardless of social or economic class is under siege. The traditional family structure in the homes of the lower economic class in particular, is fractured beyond recognition. Less than 25 percent of children live in a two parent home. We have been fostering generations of fatherless, discordant, culturally ignorant and socially isolated children, the majority of whom in turn, grow up to become dysfunctional, cross-addicted, unlawful burdens on the society that failed them.

Although overall teenage pregnancy is in decline because of better abstinence and sex education programs, underage single mothers, who were in most cases the product of teenage illegitimacy and or parental neglect-- are still repeating a generational cycle of early, unplanned parenthood and subsequent irresponsible child rearing. Any percentage of underage pregnancy, no matter how low the statistics drop is still too many.

For at least two generations in the typical American family, behavioral excellence, in the form of manners and social skills training, have not been nurtured in the home. Intelligent moral behavioral development and socialization skills have been taken for granted, considered the job of teachers and the school system; and only to be taught at the primary and secondary education levels. This past attitude of apathy and outright neglect by many parents of all levels in the American socio-economic classes, towards responsibility for the proper social training of their own children, is inexcusable. This apathy and neglect towards parental
responsibility contributes directly to our young people's detached, conditioned, antisocial behavior.

Uncivilized, dysfunctional behavior as a byproduct of parental dereliction, passed on for generations, coupled with a lack of access to higher education opportunities, has fermented this cultural dilemma in the mass population. We must now face this issue head on, and as a first step towards societal recovery, treat the disease with free or earned tuition initiatives to fund higher education. My case for this course of treatment follows…

Rap Music Culture: The 21st Century Minstrel Show

We are in a new technological era in the 21st century, yet our society is more fractured and less civil than it's ever been. We are in the midst of a global cultural crisis.

A generation has already been indoctrinated, in reality--brain washed by the violent and pornographic sound bites and imagery of a culture turning back all the progress made by the civil rights movement. Today, children and young adults are bombarded by the primitive, anti-intellectual, anti-social actions of an amoral, self-celebrity-obsessed popular entertainment culture.

The bottom line is that today's parents are neither planning for parenthood, nor are they preparing their own children to be successful, intelligent, disciplined, responsible, civil human beings. It is their duty, and no one else--to their children and society. There is no substitute for a parent to make the investment of their time every day to prioritize and nurture each child's positive social development. The positive effect on a child's behavior and maturation will be immediate and lasting. Parents cannot afford to fail at this task, because the intense pressure from peers form families failing at this priority, as well as the powerful influence of an immora,l barbaric popular culture, will send a once bright child--full of potential, down the wrong path-- to their own self-destruction.

It is ironic that, for example, if the parents of young offenders were held criminally and civilly responsible for the unlawful actions of their children, up to their 21st birthday--- there would be an immediate reduction, close to single digit percentage, in all incidents of barbaric, antisocial behaviors and attitudes from those children and young adults. Because the majority of parents would no longer tolerate any nonsense that would cause them to loose their jobs, or wages for any length of time, because they were caught up in the legal system, fighting charges they did not commit, as a result of their child's irresponsible, or violent actions. They would be forced to be more attentive in raising their children to be respectable, successful adults.

Parents can no longer place the blame on any other influence than their own neglect and dereliction of duty. It is your job to prepare your own kids to succeed, not the educational system.

The next element to the young American's social disconnect involves a family's future education planning. In the homes of the poorer and lower middle economic classes, more often than not, there are no financial savings plans, implemented at each child's birth, to build funds for college and ensure their opportunity have a better life. There are any number of reasons and excuses for not sacrificing-- for this short sighted, unforgivable act of neglect that sentences their children to repeat a cycle of social and economic obscurity. This affects directly, a young adult's sense of self-worth., not being able to attend college, because their parents didn't care, or couldn't realize how this neglectful act of apathy would impair their child's ability to have a better, more successful life than they had. This contributes to their dissonance, pessimism, disregard for life and the decline in overall civilized moral behavior in society. They will carry this pain of underachievement into full adulthood. They will act out on it as social rebellion; it is evidenced in the popular entertainment of the day.

For at least two generations, the influence of an amoral popular culture, combined with anti-intellectual peer pressure, and the failure of parents to adequately train and prepare their children to be successful---has germinated, creating not only another generation of adults hopelessly locked into this systematic course of socio-economic obscurity, but also a highly uncivilized environment that entices them to act out on their ignorance and frustrations; the criminal minded social caste. Many so-called disenfranchised young people consider antisocial and illegal activity as the only option to rise above abject poverty or build social status among their peers; this idiotic, immature desire to be considered "cool" at any cost.

Popular entertainment's highly exploitive glorification of sex and violent criminal lifestyles is the so called 'ghetto culture'; an exaggerated projection of the lowest common denominator--negative images, lyrics, and overall egomaniacal, boorish, anti-social behavior---and a total disregard for the gift of life, as the authentic African American and Latin American experience. This is greed motivated exploitation at its absolute worst and its objective is to corrupt out children and young adults by exposing them non-stop to its negative influence. Sports and popular entertainment, including the entire talent-less music industry; this cult of mediocre celebrity, should not be the strongest influence in our children's and young adult's lives. The parental example educational excellence and social/ civic responsibility should be instead.

As a result of this breakdown of the traditional family, the most ignorant, greed driven factions of society, through the various media engines, are leading the moral decline of society. The glorification of uncivilized, anti-social behavior, which is rap culture or the 'Neo Minstrel Show'-- as it is accurately identified by the country's foremost columnist on failed socio-economic engineering, and noted jazz historian, Stanley Crouch-- is taking its most destructive toll on our immature young minds. Ethnic Americans in particular, should not allow their people to live the stereotypes perpetuated by popular entertainment since the era of slavery on through Jim Crow to present day. The Neo Minstrel Show called rap culture is a proudly ignorant, self-imposed sentence on the lives of ethnic Americans to social obscurity, and intellectual inferiority.

In our greed driven society, as long as the product or idea turns a profit, it is acceptable, even to the detriment of humane, intelligent moral and social progression, even in our American higher education industry. A heavy price will continue to be paid by society until this chaotic course is guided on a straight and progressive path, by and through improving the education policies of this nation. Without a fundamental change in access to higher education, for all citizens, there will continue to be an ever widening disparity between the so called social classes and an increase in cultural segregation. Desperation, frustration and resentments will continue to fuel a pessimistic climate and reinforce class conflicts, creating a growing cycle of civil disobedience and self destructive antisocial behavior that cannot easily be cured.

As a nation, we have come a long way from the brutal injustices and engineered inequities of the past. But, as we enter the 21st century, will we learn and adapt from the hard lessons of the past, or will we continue to ignore the core logical solutions to our major societal problems?

There is an old saying, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." If we consider our society metaphorically as that chain, we will find that it has many fractured links. As citizens of what is still the greatest democratic experiment in history, we must take on the task of mending this particular broken link immediately. Far too many generations have been lost to obscurity in the past century. The cycle of failure and low expectations must end before 2050.

That national mending all starts with greater unlimited access to higher education, for all American citizens in need. Another metaphor, "If you give a fish, you feed him for a day, If you TEACH him how to fish-- you feed him for a lifetime…"

Intelligence development is a modern win/win situation for our entire society. It should be an inalienable right, protected by the Constitution. To impede and deter the intellectual development of the poorer, less fortunate population for any reason, especially an inability to afford higher education tuition costs, should be interpreted for what it really is--a deliberate attack on the very fabric of a healthy, vibrant, progressive American democratic society; against life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--all that we stand for. It is motivated by nothing more than greed--nothing more.

The education industry is saying to the less fortunate American economic classes, "If you can't pay, we won't teach you the skills you will need to earn a decent living and prosper in the new economy of the 21st century. You will suffer, and so will your family and their future generations--we don't care about the country's overall socio-economic progression. We only care about profit--and keeping the wealthy class in power and overseeing control of the mass economically disadvantaged population."

The wealthy class needs a permanent 'serf' service workforce. And if the mass population reverts back to near barbarism fueled by the influence of a dumbed-down mass media and popular sports entertainment culture, the education industry does not consider it their overall fault or itself as the source of the overall problem. They refuse to see the connection between the lack of access for all Americans to higher education and the moral decline of American society.

The H.E. 2050 Report levels the blame for social disparity and educational inequity directly on the head of the higher education industry and the federal government. If this nation continues to produce a mass population of dumbed-down, unskilled labor, the result in the long term will be more of what we see in the headlines: celebrated anti-social behavior, crimes and incidents exaggerated to an even greater immoral, idiotic, and outlandish degree. And America's role as leaders and innovators in the world will be drastically diminished in the manufacturing technology industries.

Some Perspective

It has been estimated that in the 21st century, the American worker will either change career paths, or need job retraining up to seven times. Also, according to a 2001 United Nations population study, the world's population--already more than double what it was in 1950, is projected to boom by another 3 billion in the next half century. Today there are 6.1 billion people in the world. By 2050 that figure is anticipated to swell to 9.3 billion. The United States in particular, with a steady influx of 1 million immigrants a year, will grow to nearly 400 million by 2050, from 283 million today. By the year 2100 the land of the free may have a population of over 1 billion citizens.

An unsettling trend in the 2000 census was the growth of the prison populations nationwide. Without new solutions to society's inequities, including new social education policy initiatives, the prison population's growth may climb to incredible levels by 2050.

Journalist Tamara Henry reported in 2001 on how societal shifts could alter education by mid-century; major social trends, including growth in the size
of the elderly and ethnic populations, may force U.S. education policy to change.

According to the Educational Research Service, future trends will require an expansion if adult education. And all schools will have to ensure equal access, work harder to close achievement gaps between races and strive to diversify the teaching force. The Education Research Service released a year-long study in 2000 outlining trends that represent a paradigm shift in attitudes about education. Key among the trends:

• The elderly will outnumber the young for the first time in history by 2030, when baby boomers are between 66 and 84 years old.
• The ratio of people working for every person drawing social security may be as low as 2-to-1. In 1950, the ratio was 6-to-1.
• Higher Education and Adult retraining investment will become will ensure the solvency of social security and other social programs, because it will expand the workforce with skilled labor and raise the ratio of working people to retirees.
• Intellectual capital will also become the economic currency in the future. What you know will count more than ever. Many students and professionals will be working on their own while interconnected with cyber-teams and networks. So management and entrepreneurial skills will be essential.

If 'Type One' new education initiatives are not implemented and on track by 2030, then by 2050 the economy will collapse under the strain of still operating in a 'Type Zero' environment of socio-economic disparity fueled by a mass population of under-educated, unskilled citizens. At that rate, by 2100 America would be indistinguishable from a third world country, unable to reverse its downward spiral. The death of the greatest democracy on earth would be imminent.

So it is imperative right now, that America's mass population and greater workforce have access to as much higher education and higher skills retraining as possible. The larger the skilled workforce, the better the chances we have of keeping social security and other humanitarian social services solvent in perpetuity.

To improve overall national education policy, identifying current inequities and offering solutions becomes a critical priority. Despite some far reaching improvements, both racial and disability discrimination exists, according to Dr. Gary Orfield, a Havard professor who co-directs the Civil Rights Project. For example:

• Ethnic Americans and poorer students are more likely to be unjustly labeled as "mentally slow or mildly retarded", in order to place them in less challenging classes.
• African American public school students are more than three times likely than other students to be unfairly categorized as needing "special education services", more restrictive classrooms and isolation from their peers.
• It is reported that 63 percent of 4th graders cannot read proficiently and less than 40 percent of all primary and secondary students are knowledgeable in basic mathematics, history and geography.

The studies commissioned by Harvard University also found that in richer school districts, African-American male students were at greater risk of being disproportionately labeled 'mentally retarded'. The research points out that, African-American students are "over-represented" in special education classrooms in which students are often segregated and poorly taught. The ethnic breakdown of other students in special education programs is more in line with that of the total population.

Children who begin school with poorly developed language skills and a limited vocabulary are more likely to end up in special education. They are supposed to go through a strict screening process. But many of these children are not being properly diagnosed. If evaluators also have a bias against students from an ethnic or a poor background, the conclusion is quickly made that these children are either not able to learn, not worth the effort, or both. So they assume their only option is social promotion through special education.

The H.E. 2050 Report is leveling the charge of criminal neglect and apathy, by educators, against the very children they pledged to adequately teach--innocent children. There is an ongoing response of lowered expectations and bias against poorer ethnic students. Placing them in special education programs perpetuates the worst stereotype, that ethnic races are inherently intellectually inferior--when nothing could be further from the truth. Children that suffer this clearly biased treatment are being denied their civil rights.

There is also a push by some educators to get so called "disruptive children" or children who function at slightly lower academic levels out of regular classes, instead of making the extra effort to teach them or provide extra tutoring. There may also be cultural bias in the intelligence testing that is used to make a diagnosis. Logic and reasoning skills are not measured. Evaluators look only for "learning weaknesses" and or" deviant behavior", convenient nomenclature to disguise the disgraceful procedure of segregating ethnic children off to early conditioning; warehoused special education classes where they are not challenged to learn and excel. In these warehouse classes they are merely held until the bell rings, then they are moved along, like mindless livestock.

One possible solution may be as simple as nutritional supplements, such as ginko biloba to enhance the brain's oxygen absorption, thereby improving brain function and reducing fatigue; or Focus Factor supplements, already in use by many primary and secondary schools.

Other true education policy solutions will be more labor intensive, such as hiring more teachers and tutors; smaller classes to prevent overcrowding and spreading a teacher's workload too broadly; and other proven learning methods such as Phonics and Eye Reader.

But educators should never use special education programs or social promotion to simply write off and devalue students, because of deep seeded racial bias. This is an abuse of the authority and trust placed in primary and secondary education administrators. It must be exposed and stopped. This practice perpetuates the cycle of socio-economic obscurity.

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