Chances are if you’re reading this, you have student loan debt. You may have a federal subsidized or unsubsidized loan, a loan through your school, or your parents may have even taken out a Direct PLUS Loan to help cover the costs of your education. I have a twin sister attending Florida State University, so I happen to have all of the above. I have federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans, and my parents have taken out loans in order to pay for housing and books.
I was proud to stand behind President Barack Obama at the White House when he spoke about college affordability on May 31. Obama is committed to making college affordable for every student who wants to receive higher education. In August, the president rolled out even more ideas for higher-education reform that will help millions of students across the United States. The following are the three main points of reform:
1. Implement a new rating system for colleges and universities. The rating system will be based on the institution’s ability to give students a strong education at a fair price.
2. Provide incentives to schools experimenting to save student’s money with online courses and joint programs with high schools.
3. Raise awareness of the “Pay As You Earn” program, which caps loan payments at 10 percent of a student’s post-college monthly income. This program is already helping about 2.5 million students across the country.
As Obama said, “Higher education shouldn’t be a luxury, or a roll of the dice; it’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.”
This letter to the editor ran on page 7 on 11/15/2013 under the headline "Students should know the facts about education reform"
