Published: January 25, 2006
There was hardly a blip on the newsreel last week when the Commerce Department announced that the United States trade deficit had dropped to $64.2 billion- the first time in eight months that the deficit with China decreased.
This was because that little spark of good news was completely overshadowed by the gargantuan U.S. national debt, which by some estimates approaches $8 trillion.
This kind of thing seems to be the trend nowadays.
So when the government- infamous for the fact that it has had the highest spending of any U.S. government in history- announced it was going to cut spending, we should have known better than to have thought that was good news.
The bill optimistically promises to guarantee higher student loan amounts and more federal grants- but also threatens to cut $12.7 billion from federal financial aid.
Proponents enthusiastically gush about the bill’s perks, which will include raising the caps on student loans from $2,600 to $3,500 for freshmen and $3,500 to $4,500 for sophomores. It will also allegedly provide more grants to those studying mathematics, sciences or “certain” languages.
But this comes at a price. Interest rates will be permanently set at 6.8 percent for students and 8.5 percent for parents. This will cause undergraduate students to have to pay thousands of dollars in additional interest on their student loans.
It is not surprising that every time money gets short, educational programs are the first to get the axe.
But it’s unacceptable that almost every time, students end up footing the bill.