tuition break for illegal aliens?

chopitdownchopitdown Posts: 2,222
edited February 2007 in A Moving Train
this is crazy if this passes. Believe me I'm all for decreasing the cost of education but there is no reason that "undocumented students who grow up in the United States and graduate from high school [should be able] to pay in-state college tuition".


Nancy Pelosi Backs Tuition Breaks for Illegal Aliens


Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is touting congressional Democrats' push to make college more affordable for young people, including those without legal residency.

Pelosi joined three of Arizona's four Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives for a town-hall-style meeting Monday at Arizona State University in Tempe.

Her visit to ASU marked Pelosi's first domestic public appearance as speaker outside of Washington, D.C., and her home district in San Francisco.

The California Democrat praised the recent passage of House legislation that would increase the maximum yearly amount awarded through Pell Grants by $260 - to $4,310 - and cut interest rates on federal student loans in half over the next five years.

In his proposed budget submitted to Congress, President Bush also has called for increasing the maximum amount awarded through Pell Grants, although Democrats disagree with the administration's plan to cut some student-aid programs to pay for boosting those grants.

"When it comes to the education of our young people, this was only a start and there is more to come," Pelosi said.

She was joined at ASU by fellow California Rep. Barbara Lee and Arizona Reps. Harry Mitchell, Ed Pastor and Raul Grijalva.

In a news conference following the meeting, Pelosi made reference to the effect of Proposition 300, an Arizona initiative passed by voters in November that requires illegal immigrants to pay out-of-state tuition to attend public universities and community colleges.

"Our country does not benefit by our depriving young people of an education," Pelosi said.

Pastor said comprehensive immigration-reform legislation will be introduced in Congress next month and it will include provisions that would allow undocumented students who grow up in the United States and graduate from high school to pay in-state college tuition.

Mitchell, an ASU graduate elected to the House in November, said college affordability was a chief issue during congressional campaigns, prompting the newly-elected Democratic majority to act quickly on higher-education legislation.

Mitchell, a high school teacher for 28 years, said the average ASU student graduates with more than $15,000 of debt.

Grijalva, who sits on the House Education and Labor Committee, said Democrats' goal is to eventually offer Pell Grants of up to $5,100 per year.

© 2007 Associated Press.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/2/20/113615.shtml?s=ic
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Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,202
    i dont like it, but part of me says why not... those kids want an education. most of the spoiled american brats i know dont give a fuck about being educated, they expect to be handed everything on a silver platter. so make them fucking work for it. i think tuition should be charged on a sliding scale based on academic performance in high school, and the hell with any residential or nationality requirements.
  • chopitdownchopitdown Posts: 2,222
    i dont like it, but part of me says why not... those kids want an education. most of the spoiled american brats i know dont give a fuck about being educated, they expect to be handed everything on a silver platter. so make them fucking work for it. i think tuition should be charged on a sliding scale based on academic performance in high school, and the hell with any residential or nationality requirements.

    those are good points. I'd like to see residential requirements thrown out also. I don't know if I'd quite be for a sliding scale (maybe if it's adjustable after each year of college..some kids do better in college than in HS). I can see them allowing them to go to school and paying out of state, but I just don't like the out of state tuition waver.
    make sure the fortune that you seek...is the fortune that you need
  • You'd think these people might ask themselves why tuition is skyrocketing. But they don't.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    So only American kids should qualify for easier access to education? That's a sad position to take in my opinion. People are people. If we give it to some, let's give it to all.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • AmentsChickAmentsChick Posts: 6,969
    Oh geez, give me a break. What more are we going to do for illegal aliens...start passing out credit cards to them?? Oh, no wait...we're doing that already.
    This is the greatest band in the world -- Ben Harper

  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    Oh geez, give me a break. What more are we going to do for illegal aliens...start passing out credit cards to them?? Oh, no wait...we're doing that already.

    That one's even less of an issue. It's their prerogative if they want to use the credit card. Furthermore, it's private industry and if they want to make money from that market segment, I'm all for it.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • I'm not sure I understand this fully. If a student (undocumented or not) has a permanent in-state address and went to an in-sate high school, I don't really have a problem with it. It has been a long time, and I'm sure things have changed, but I don't think I ever had to prove my citizenship when I applied to college.

    The article tries to make it seem like any undocumented person can get the in-state rate... if this was the case, what would stop me (a citizen living in New York) from applying to ASU as an undocumented student?
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  • soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,202
    chopitdown wrote:
    those are good points. I'd like to see residential requirements thrown out also. I don't know if I'd quite be for a sliding scale (maybe if it's adjustable after each year of college..some kids do better in college than in HS). I can see them allowing them to go to school and paying out of state, but I just don't like the out of state tuition waver.

    that would be cool. you start out with high school gpa. certain ranges get certain tuition. then maybe give discounts throughout college... x amount off for every a... or just allow them to switch bracket if their gpa exceeds what they had in high school. there are no incentives to do well anymore.
  • rebornFixerrebornFixer Posts: 4,901
    I have quite a bit of sympathy for illegal aliens. I do. But this is rather ... retarded. Shouldn't the focus be on helping these people become full-fledged citizens, BEFORE letting them go to univercity for free? At what point does the distinction "illegal alien" become completely useless, if such people get special perks for being in the country?
  • soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,202
    ive also got to wonder what good increasing pell grant amounts is going to do. ive seen this happen, anytime aid is increased, they increase the tuition at every school in the country by at least the amount of the aid increase. it doesn't get any easier for students. there is something seriously wrong with the way we fund our colleges and i dont know enough about how their budgets work to say what's wrong, but increasing grant funding does not help the students at all, only the schools.
  • ive also got to wonder what good increasing pell grant amounts is going to do. ive seen this happen, anytime aid is increased, they increase the tuition at every school in the country by at least the amount of the aid increase. it doesn't get any easier for students. there is something seriously wrong with the way we fund our colleges and i dont know enough about how their budgets work to say what's wrong, but increasing grant funding does not help the students at all, only the schools.

    Hehe....bingo.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    Most of the colleges around here have increased tuition by at least 10% every year for over 10 years now. I keep wondering why it's not questioned, since that is way above and beyond inflation, etc.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • chopitdownchopitdown Posts: 2,222
    that would be cool. you start out with high school gpa. certain ranges get certain tuition. then maybe give discounts throughout college... x amount off for every a... or just allow them to switch bracket if their gpa exceeds what they had in high school. there are no incentives to do well anymore.

    that would be a great incentive to do well. That also gives you more ownership of your college debt.
    make sure the fortune that you seek...is the fortune that you need
  • mammasanmammasan Posts: 5,656
    chopitdown wrote:
    that would be a great incentive to do well. That also gives you more ownership of your college debt.

    I believe that state schools in Florida do this. Depending on your high school GPA you receive a certain percentage off of your tuition. It renews again in your second year and is based on your GPA from the previous year, etc... I believe you can receive up to 75% off of your tuition for a 4.0 GPA. It's all possible because of the revenue the state makes from the lottery. My sister-in-law was explaining it to me because my nephew wanted to come to school up North but decided to stay in state because he was going to receive a significant discount on his tuition because of his grades.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,202
    mammasan wrote:
    I believe that state schools in Florida do this. Depending on your high school GPA you receive a certain percentage off of your tuition. It renews again in your second year and is based on your GPA from the previous year, etc... I believe you can receive up to 75% off of your tuition for a 4.0 GPA. It's all possible because of the revenue the state makes from the lottery. My sister-in-law was explaining it to me because my nephew wanted to come to school up North but decided to stay in state because he was going to receive a significant discount on his tuition because of his grades.

    see, but ive heard from a lot of people who use state lotteries to fund higher education and they say the same thing i expressed with pell grants... every student gets x scholarship from lottery and the school promptly raises tuition by x+100. i do like the idea of a merit system though. it sounds like a pretty good idea. beyond that... something needs to be done to stem the increases in tuition. it's not a matter of simply increasing aid to students. schools are going way overboard in terms of trying to provide everything to everyone and it's killing their budgets. i have a funny feeling that most of this tuition increase is going to things like new rec centers and more funding for the "students against the inhumane practice of cow-tipping in iowa farms that earn less than the poverty wage or hire fewer than 12 employees" group.
  • mammasanmammasan Posts: 5,656
    see, but ive heard from a lot of people who use state lotteries to fund higher education and they say the same thing i expressed with pell grants... every student gets x scholarship from lottery and the school promptly raises tuition by x+100. i do like the idea of a merit system though. it sounds like a pretty good idea. beyond that... something needs to be done to stem the increases in tuition. it's not a matter of simply increasing aid to students. schools are going way overboard in terms of trying to provide everything to everyone and it's killing their budgets. i have a funny feeling that most of this tuition increase is going to things like new rec centers and more funding for the "students against the inhumane practice of cow-tipping in iowa farms that earn less than the poverty wage or hire fewer than 12 employees" group.


    I agree that something needs to be done with the ridiculous college tuition we have. When I went to college the tuition for a full time student was $11,000 per year and that was a private university. These days that's probably the cost for an in-state student at a state school.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,202
    mammasan wrote:
    I agree that something needs to be done with the ridiculous college tuition we have. When I went to college the tuition for a full time student was $11,000 per year and that was a private university. These days that's probably the cost for an in-state student at a state school.

    my private school is $38,000 per year in tuition. there are some students here who will graduate with $200,000 in debt. granted, that's a professional school with a top notch name so the investment will pay off. but most public schools, like you said, are not much better.
  • chopitdownchopitdown Posts: 2,222
    my private school is $38,000 per year in tuition. there are some students here who will graduate with $200,000 in debt. granted, that's a professional school with a top notch name so the investment will pay off. but most public schools, like you said, are not much better.

    i can see paying going in debt that amount when you'll be able to poss make 200K/ year after a few years in the field (maybe even right out of the gates). I can't imagine going to a school that costs that much to get an english, social work, or eduation degree and having that much debt when you'll make an avg of 30K / year. And we wonder why some college kids aren't able to move out of the house and feel like they have no control.
    make sure the fortune that you seek...is the fortune that you need
  • soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,202
    chopitdown wrote:
    i can see paying going in debt that amount when you'll be able to poss make 200K/ year after a few years in the field (maybe even right out of the gates). I can't imagine going to a school that costs that much to get an english, social work, or eduation degree and having that much debt when you'll make an avg of 30K / year. And we wonder why some college kids aren't able to move out of the house and feel like they have no control.

    that's why they say harvard law students make fun of the people going there for undergrad. a bachelor's is pretty useless these days. certainly doesn't make a return on the investment of a big name private school.
  • chopitdownchopitdown Posts: 2,222
    that's why they say harvard law students make fun of the people going there for undergrad. a bachelor's is pretty useless these days. certainly doesn't make a return on the investment of a big name private school.

    A bachelor's is now looked at as the new HS diploma...it's assumed you'll get one. You almost have to get a masters degree now to set yourself apart.
    make sure the fortune that you seek...is the fortune that you need
  • they broke the law

    dont they deserve something extra for their efforts?
  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    my private school is $38,000 per year in tuition. there are some students here who will graduate with $200,000 in debt. granted, that's a professional school with a top notch name so the investment will pay off. but most public schools, like you said, are not much better.

    That's a sad commentary.

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  • well theyre illegal so tax us more so they can have more babies
  • How About Tuition Breaks For Americans?
    I'll dig a tunnel
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