As tuition costs rise at universities across the nation, new steps are being made to provide Americans with affordable access to college.
Under a new budget proposal introduced by President Barack Obama, the federal financial aid system will be transformed by increasing grant aid and federal loan accessibility. According to the Campaign for America's Future, the proposed budget eliminates excessive lender subsidies and moves to more efficient direct lending instead.
The proposed budget will increase the funding for the Federal Perkins Loan Program from $1 billion to $6 billion in 2010 and establishes a set of mandated benefits for borrowers, such as fixed interest rates, income-based repayment and a new forgiveness program.
By redirecting bank subsidies, the Pell Grant will award an additional $200 and will guarantee aid for qualified students, according to a March 26 report by the Campaign for America's Future.
These changes have come at a time when more people are opting out of going to college for financial reasons, according to the report by the Campaign for America's Future.
The Campaign's report said between the years 2000 and 2007, the cost of tuition at a public four-year college in Ohio increased 29 percent and went up 5 percent nation-wide in 2008 alone.
"This is a forbidding cost to society," said Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign. "The president understands this and has made significant steps to ensure that college is affordable."
Included in the proposal is a set of mandates to ensure students are not over-borrowing-a concept that runs in contrast to traditional banking loans.
Education experts hail the plan as a major step forward in providing Americans with affordable access to college.
According to Robert Brandon, director of Campaign for College Affordability, nearly 400,000 students put off going to college because of cost.
"This is a great tragedy," Brandon said. "These investments in education are especially important in today's economy. These are the investments we need."
In contrast to the national average, Miami University's in-state tuition has remained steady, in part because of Gov. Strickland's tuition freeze since summer 2007.
"This year's senior class, as it looks now, will pay the exact same in tuition as the incoming freshman class," said Chuck Knepfle, assistant provost and director of student financial assistance at Miami. "That will mean that Miami will have had the same cost of tuition for four consecutive years, which is really just unprecedented."
Some experts, such as Christine Lindstrom, director of the United States Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG), believe the importance of the Obama budget cannot be undermined and will ultimately help turn the national average of students applying to college increase again.
"There are tremendous negative consequences to students taking out loans," Lindstrom said. "The Pell Grant increase alone will make college more affordable for 260,000 new students. We applaud the president's plan and are looking forward to working with congress to ensure the plan is enacted."
Miami is also making strides to provide students with affordable access to college through the creation of two new award programs.
The Miami Grant and the Miami Access Initiative are need-based awards given to in-state students enrolled at Miami, according to Knepfle.
The Miami Access Initiative guarantees a four-year education at Miami to students whose families make less than $30,000 a year. Knepfle said while the Miami Grant awards a smaller sum, all types of aid are beneficial to students.
The Miami Grant alone has been awarded to roughly 60 percent of incoming first-years who live in Ohio.
Although the new grants target more students demonstrating financial need, the Office of Financial Aid reported Miami does not expect the number of students enrolled at the university to increase because the state of Ohio limits the number of students who can enroll at the Oxford campus.
