This weekend is graduation weekend at Penn State. The months of May and June mark the graduation of yet another class of graduates from Colleges and Universities from across the country.
These same months also mark the time when governing boards of these same institutions start to deliberate or decide what the price tag on the next year's tuition will be. These governing boards are faced with increased costs, much like every person and every business in this country. From the increasing cost of health care to gas these institutions face higher operating costs.
Every year these institutions pass their increased costs on to the students in the form of higher tuition and fees. It is a never-ending cycle that has seen tuition increases consistently outpace the rate of inflation.
While the outrage over the cost of gasoline has been very real there has been much less discussion of the cost of higher education. The average college graduate will complete school with $19,000 in student loans and debt. That is before graduate school.
That debt load is a big burden to a young man or woman starting out in a new career. It is something that can be remedied.
Senator Obama has supported one proposal and proposed another program that will be significant options for young men and women in this country.
The first proposal is a new G.I. Bill--a bill that will help educate people who have served this country in the armed forces. Some have criticized the proposal for being too generous and for being something that will increase turnover in the military. How can anything benefiting our veterans ever be too generous?
The second plan is a program proposed by Senator Obama that would give $4,000 a year to students who perform 100 hours of community service (that's a rate of $40 an hour--not bad!). Under the Obama proposal that student debt level would drop from $19,000 to just $3,000--a huge difference.
The common thread among the two plans is a service component to this country. Whether it is military service or community service, the lesson is that to receive you must give back. It is a powerful lesson for young people to learn as they head out of college and on to their lives as husbands or wives or mothers and fathers.
It harkens back to a day when a young President stood on the steps of the capital and said during his inaugural address "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country..."
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