Economic+solutions

Alternative Funding for Higher Education
====The article discusses the disadvantages to having private funding be the majority of a schools income. It goes on to say that the more a school takes from a private organization to fund its operations the larger the gap becomes between schools. This means that not all schools receive equal funding. Some will receive larger grants than others. Harvard’s private income far exceeds Chico’s private income and always will. The more a school relies on private money the less valuable and capable that university will be (if they’re one of the more unfortunate and lower funded schools). As it is now, the system is not equal. Making it even more privatized would only increase the gap between schools. Would we see some schools disappear and Super Colleges appear? An example of this would be much like what Wal-Mart does when it moves into a town and kills the mom and pop businesses. While this is a little like comparing apples to oranges there is no question that some schools would struggle to stay open if they lost all their state funding.====

Shana Cloonan
__http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQrleS3E3Cc__

This video explains how the tuitions have increased by at least $1,000 dollars in 7 years. They used protesting to get their point of view across to not only their school, but hopefully the government as well. I feel that protesting is a good way of speaking out to the community, and the government because it really shows how you feel about that specific topic. If hundreds of people go out to protest about how higher education is being taken away from students due to budget cuts, then other people will join in to speak their minds, and eventually, people will hear about how this is affecting everyone. I feel that protesting could be useful to us because it’ll really show the government that budget cuts are not only affecting students, but also teachers, and education in general. Also, by protesting, hopefully it will influence more students to get involved with this problem and speak out to the public and the government to fix the budget cuts. It will also, in the end, influence the government to stop taking away from higher education, and start taking away from the prisons and bailing out banks. Education is the future, and the future affects each and every one of us. Prisons are not in need of help because they are not the future. I feel that with enough protesting, the word will finally get across to the government and begin to realize that education isn’t the place to take away from.

Cody Tappan [] During and after reading this article I was interested and somewhat confused on the reasons to cut government spending again for this year. I understand that if this doesn’t happen we may be at chances of recession again but it is an extremely hard judgment to make. This article says that 60 senior economists have signed open letters to back the decision to cut spending. This makes the issue more believable but I somewhat believe that it may undermine our recovery in the market of economy. This article revolves and centers around the idea of how and when to bring down government borrowing. This is what made the economic crisis as bad as it was. These economists say that cutting government spending will last all the way until 2011. I don’t have much experience or knowledge of these situations but overall I feel like the change needs to start now. The economist who signed the letters is from all around and is very understandable. It just seems like the cautious way to handle the situation and it may not help as fast as other ways to revolve the economy. This article gave me a good and solid overview of things that are starting to happen due to the economy. Not only is the economy a problem in our country but also is a hardship around the world. Taking every step possible towards getting out of these situations will start hopefully in 2011. It seems like a long time away but I think it will come up sooner then expected.

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This is a summry of the California Public Policy Institute of Californias 2007 poll summary conducted in 2007 consistin of 2503 phone calls made. even thought that is a small population summary for california is was still done randomly, and that is very important for a statistical summary. On this page it shows the percentage of the summary that everybody of the summary answered. Along with the page it gives a summary on how the public does not always understand that the college system of California is very affordable compared to that of other states. The PPIC hopes that by conducting these surveys and submitting them to the state that this can help be an advocate of funding the state system. THe PPIC thinks that it is import to provide citizen opinions instead of protesting. By submitting these to legislators, it will help support the citizen movement that they are willing to support education. I think this is very important to students that there is an organization out there collecting actual data from people and submitting it to legislators. Lobbists are very important for supporting advocated measures. Without their support in talking to legislators, nobody would know what our voice wants.

Ashley Van Buren

Shana Cloonan
[] I found this article that contains a video as well as a few passages that explain the debt that students are struggling with in college. The first article, and the one I’m going to focus on about textbooks. This article explains how students spend on average $900 a year on textbooks. This is compared to 20% of tuition to most universities and this is half of tuition at a community college. This is very surprising to me because textbooks should not costs this much because we are already paying for tuition on top of going to school. Textbook prices have increased four times the rate since 1994 and are continuing to rise as the years go on. They go on to say that their research shows that the rise of text is inevitable because policy solutions exist to “make textbooks part of an affordable college education.” This means that due to the fact that textbooks are apart of the college expenses, the costs of them will continue to rise so the college makes money to educate more students. Also, new textbooks are made every 3 and a half years due to the fact that education is constantly changing. But, even books like math and chemistry, where education doesn’t change much, they still need to produce new books to compete with the competitor books. They also produce CD-ROMS and workbooks to go with their new editions. According to their studies, professors and college administrations are able to restrain the high prices, but they aren’t able to due to the costs of the universities. Also, congress should “require publishers to curb practices that drive up the cost of a college education.”

====In class we've been talking about the effects that the budget cuts have taken on our school. This article describes the difficulties that CSU campuses are facing in the crisis, and the actions that they may be forced into. What stood out the most to me was that they would not be accepting any students for the 2010 spring term. This time period usually enrolls about 35,000 student state wide, and that means many students will be out of a university to attend. We've discussed possible actions that schools could take to help the situation. Many of us realize that magnitude that comes with every idea surrounding budget cuts, but cutting enrollment is one idea that we never brought up. Because we were fortunate enough to be accepted into a university, it is tough for us to sit inside and tell the system to deny others of education. Another alarming suggestion from the article is that of "restricting travel and purchases." Although athletics would forbid me from doing a semester abroad, I know that doing so can be a great growing experience for any college student. If the CSU campuses start to cut programs to study abroad, many will be outraged because these programs may be the only opportunity one has to experience new cultures or ideas. It seems that any solutions will cost the school or students financially, and still may effect one’s educational experience. All suggestions for the budget crisis come at some costs, but we as a state will soon decide what corners we wish to cut the hardest.====

http://www.calstate.edu/pa/News/2009/spring-admissions.shtml -Sean Park
Crystal Hollinshead [] This article talks about the announcement of state wide furlough days to all California Faculty Association members. This is made up of over 8,800 members. The furloughs will accumulate for a 10% pay cut. Most of the union members said the made the sacrifice for “the good of their colleagues and the good of the university.” The union also said approved a vote of no confidence towards Chancellor Charles B. Reed leadership in the system. That doesn’t look very promising for him to stick around, especially since 78% of the faculty felt this way. The article also touched on how they will reduce enrollment in the CSU system by 40,000 students and raising fees. In the article and other I have read through, many of them very much suited around the well-being of the union members and faculty and not towards the students. If it were not for the students they would have no jobs, why don’t we focus on the tuition rising on the students. We don’t pay nearly as much as a UC student but that is why a large amount of students choose the CSU system because it is more affordable than the UC system, pretty soon this will not be true and both systems will be seen as the same when it comes down to price. Touching also on the fact that our tuition is being raised for nothing we did wrong, why should we take the fall for the states budget crisis and why should 40,000+ students no be accepted because of something that they have no control over.

Mei Kawamura http://www.ijournal.us/issue_11/ij_11_05_articleframe_Crocker.html The article I found online was about a campaign for college funding. Specifically this campaign targeted the affordability of community colleges. Their statement is what they call, “I can afford college”. They have a goal in which to allow individuals to have an education no matter what financial background they come from. Currently they have a website up and running which shares the same statement in the url address. Their outreach to the community is done through paid advertising, earned media, and active community outreach. Through these many have been made aware of this and the more individuals know about their goals the people who were struggling before with the costs of attending college have found their help. Surprisingly this campaign has had “ 87% people knowing about their message”. This is a great overall percentage. Their campaign specifically targets middle and low income families in California. If this site has one for community colleges there are bound to have many for other Universities. Affordability is what is on everyone’s minds these days. The ongoing effort in tackling this financial burden has arrived through this campaign. The more people know about them the more others want to help out in the name and price of education. The misconceptions about the lack of college funding has been countered with campaigns like these. There is help out there, one just needs to research more to find out what kind is out there. This specific type of successful marketing and media involvement has “inspired thousands of Californians make their higher education dreams realize can come true.”

Jake Fitzpatrick In English 130P we have been discussing the issues and changes higher education is facing. The problems we are seeing include tuition prices getting too high and the quality and quantity of education we are receiving is declining. In addition we have discussed problems with financial aid and universities becoming privatized institutions, no longer truly publicly available. This article is about the Commission on the Future for Higher Education has made a revised report after the original used too much “harsh language”. Richard K Vedder, the University of Ohio Economist, even call this version of the report the “sugar coated version” humorously. Another problem being addressed is the fact that so many students coming from high school are under prepared and this often causes the school to look worse because they fail classes. For the most part this article goes over what certain commissioners wanted to change about the report and who actually got their requests answered. Some of the commissioner’s requests were simply ignored. This final report still has a weak introduction and conclusion. the second version of the report is said to offer a little more praise and less criticism on the universities, which went over with the public better compared to the original, which was widely criticized for being too critical on the universities. This report would be interesting to see if you were trying to understand the changing face of higher education because the nineteen commissioners put the report together for the future of higher education.

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The article named "Future of Higher education" helps define the problems affecting education today. It pinpoints challenges that are affecting higher education such as; creating a vision for achieving what the actual purpose of education is in the age of information without misleading its main core. Redesigning the lectured based system we have today to meet what today’s students need as well adjusting to the new learning paradigm created in the industrial age to meet unique learning requirements. Furthermore the article also mentions the competitiveness of K-12 and higher education, and how these systems are experiencing increasing costs. The Future of Higher Education and the K-12 education industries are in serious trouble. After years of poor performance and basically no improvements in productivity, the opportunity for profits in K-12 is now high enough that a number of for-profit corporations will invest sufficiently to promote quality education, therefore increasing competition and leading to a new industry. Lastly the article does propose options for higher education leaders in today’s world. Some of these involve creating a coalition in up to ten states willing to transform K-12 education. They could open a Community learning center on or near a college/university campus and use it as a national demonstration site, a site that their colleague’s children could attend. The site where this article is located has videos and many more discussion threads on this topic which are great for future reference. -Mario Chavarria

Robert McGuigan []

I found a YouTube video about Governor Schwarzenegger explaining a possible solution to the crisis higher education faces on its funding budget. Arnold proposes that California can raise higher education funding by cutting prison costs. Schwarzenegger believes that California need to find a more cost effective way to run the prisons that allows private prisons to compete with public prisons. Unfortunately I doubt Arnold Schwarzenegger will act upon raising funds for higher education. I believe Arnold is mainly focused on the prison system since Arnold had a court order to reduce the prison population. I believe a solution to this current crisis is to raise taxes. Many Americans don't like having taxes raised, but it will help relieve this deficit that California is facing.

Hack Life: Free College By: Andrew Davis (Note: The following excerpt is based off personal experience, beliefs as well as the resources noted.) The price of College is on a steady incline, making it more and more difficult for those who were born at the bottom of the social barrel to afford access to “Higher Education”. It is a bit confusing to see a country whose beginning was rooted in educating the common people and the American Dream of the Self Made Man (only place with capability to climb the social latter) providing higher education at the cost of lifelong monetary debt. For those who have worked their entire lives to get the grades needed to get to the school of your dreams, but cannot afford it? Do you understand the value of education? If you answered yes to either question, keep reading. Growing up, I was influenced to think that the government has its grubby little hands in everything, purposefully making it difficult for us financially less fortunate. Because of this, Uncle Sam forced me to journey through many different institutions, opening me eyes to the truth. Everything in life is a system run by people better off than me, with all sorts of sophistication. Growing among many recovering addicts, the phrase, “the system works, if you work it, so work it,” is forever engrained in my brain. Naturally, I had to find a way to get the Government to pay for my education and due to my childhood misfortunes, I did. The secret to free higher Education is to become a Foster Child just before your sixteenth birthday. Yes, I know this must sound absurd but I am telling the truth. From what it seems, tycoons love to give away money that will not be spent for tax purposes and whatnot. With three fourths of inmates across the United States being fostered (6a.), scholarships for such individuals would be the safest bet to not be spent. Besides that, there are actual groups of people who want to help foster kids get through school, and programs at most colleges to help assist with whatever may be a concern. Scholarships, grants, and even tuition waivers are available for fostered youth entering or pursuing a career in college. The best part is that the system keeps all these things secret from the children unless they have the courage and inspiration to ask about college. There is so much extra money available from the government to put you through college. My resources are just some of the financial aid available for foster children. So remember, when filling out the FAFSA, being able to say you are a ‘Dependant of the Court’ is key to not having to pay a dime for college. The government is not going to like the fact that I let their secret out but the public must know. Hack Life! Links/resources: 1) From Foster Care to College Life [] 2) Scholarships for Foster Kids [] 3) California Chafee Grant for Foster Youth [] 4) Orphan Foundation of America [] 5) College Scholarships and Tuition Waivers [] 6) Orangewood Children’s Foundation: a. Child abuse statistics [] b. Children’s Trust Fund Program [] c. Guardian Scholars Program [] 7) How to Obtain Educational Assistance for a Foster Child [] 8) Adoption and Foster Care Assistance [] 9) Alternative Foster Care Scholarships example: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1R2GGLL_en&q=colleges+help+low+income+students&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq= 10) Personal Experience (Andrew Davis Links): a. West Valley High unseats city rival Hemet High in Riverside County Academic Decathlon ** [] ** b. Topic: Foster Youth []

Wikipost #2 Economic solutions are many, but none have yet proven to be the best to help turn the tide of debt for higher education. The article “restructuring the CSU or wrecking it” gives a nice glimpse of how the CSU Chancellor and its board have failed to fight for the system, but also gives us a couple solutions to the situation we now find ourselves in. It mentions how we as a community of higher education must challenge there managerial language they have proclaimed and how we can’t allow this so called “restructuring” to come into effect. The article mentions that clearly where there is political pressure there is money. The government has spent most of its revenue bailing out banks and therefore leading us to believe that this is more important than higher education. Is this fair? How do we get the government to realize that maybe investing in higher education is the smartest way to go, instead of bailing out banks? In addition to the article in our academic writing packet there is the so called AB 656 or Fair Share for Fair Tuition, which proposes to raise funds for California’s public higher education system by charging a 12.5% tax on oil extracted within California. AB 656 is estimated to raise $2 billion annually for the University of California, California State University and California Community College systems. -Mario Chavarria