soh18ahsgov-blog - Tumblr blog

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

Work Cited

https://takelessons.com/blog/college-tuition-costs

http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-student-loan-debt-2010-12

https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76

https://www.trade-schools.net/articles/why-is-college-expensive.asp

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

Civic Action Assessment of Issue

As a citizen of the US, it is our duty to help our nation prosper.  In order to help our nation succeed we must obey the laws, participate in our government, pay taxes, volunteer, defend the nation, and become educated.  We must meet these needs of our country in order to help yourself as a citizen, while also helping everyone around you.  I have learned that citizens must be active, and share their voice because this is their civic responsibility.  Civic responsibility can include participating in our government, volunteering, and becoming a member of voluntary organizations.  I believe it is my obligation to help decrease the rising costs of college tuition, because I am a student who has experienced the unreasonably high costs of tuition and I see this major problem affecting students across the nation.  I’m connected to this issue, and I personally know how bad it is, so I want to make a change and it’s my civic responsibility to help US students and the future of America.  I have not done any civic action yet, but in the future I can participate in protests and rallies for reducing the costs of college tuition.  I can also become a member of the USSA which is an interest group that strives to decrease the cost of higher education.  Finally, I can also vote for legislation the can help reduce tuition, as well as emailing Senator Feinstein to express my concern for the issue.

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

The 3P Assessment

While the Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much, they both share the same view that college tuition is way too high and it’s selling the young people of America short and making it harder and harder for Americans to obtain a secondary education.  Where these two parties differ is their approach on the issue.  Republicans believe that less government is a better government, so they want to prevent the government from giving out student loans.  This will empower the private sector to offer a multitude of financial options that will result in an increase in market competition and drive down tuition costs.  On the other hand, the Democrats are trying to make tuition completely free for student families under a specific threshold.  They are also trying to help students that are currently suffering from high loans by allowing them to refinance them.  The Libertarian Party also agrees that college tuition is extremely high and they are striving to put more taxpayer dollars into the access of community colleges.  The Green Party wants to allow equal access to a secondary to all Americans, and they also want families who qualify to have access to tuition free college.  The Peace and Freedom party wants to reduce the costs of college tuition by making it tuition free.  I agree with all of these parties plans because they all agree that college tuition is way too high, and out of all of these parties, I would agree with the Democrats the most, because of their plan to make college tuition free for students as well as help those who are in risk of student debt.  This choice is not surprising as I am a democrat and I would vote for a Democratic candidate.  The United States Student Association is a National Interest group that covers college tuition. According to the USSA’s website the "USSA believes that education is a right and should be accessible for any student regardless of their socio-economic background and identity. We believe people who are affected directly by issues of access to higher education should be the ones identifying the solutions that make education accessible to them. Therefore, USSA is dedicated to training, organizing, and developing a base of student leaders who are utilizing those skills to engage in expanding access to higher education and advancing the broader movement for social justice." The USSA focuses on Grassroots legislative work as well as student activism to spread awareness.  The USSA is currently trying to assist in the challenges of rising tuition, student debt, and decreased higher education funding.  In the late 1900 their primary focus was on student rights, and equality.  The USSA partners with a variety of other organizations in order to increase their spread of awareness and activism.  This group wants to win legislation in Washington to increase student rights, and help assist them financially.  Currently this group is campaigning for FREE four year college tuition, and are also trying to pass the Teach Safe Relationships Act, which strives to end sexual violence with students.  There is a three day student training session for students who want to help spread awareness for student rights across the country.  The California State Student Association is a state interest group that supports the rights for California students.  The CSSA is another group that focuses on Grassroots legislative work as well as student activism to spread awareness.  This group is currently striving to decrease the cost of textbooks, and advocating for more state funding for the Cal State system.  They also want to help students increase their participation in the governance of the CSU system.  The Assembly Budget Subcommittee just unanimously voted to approve full funding for the CSU Board of Trustees’ budget request.  There are currently no volunteering opportunities for this interest group.  The National interest group seems way more organized and successful because they are operating on a larger scale, with more supporters and are tackling an issue that includes more people. I had a lot of trouble trying to find a PAC for my topic, but I did find a small PAC in Arizona called the Devils for Good who wish to change the education system in Arizona to help increase student rights.  I’m pretty sure this PAC isn’t doing well because I couldn’t find a number on how much money they have raised, but this PAC was formed in 2016.  He’s not supporting any parties, he’s purely doing it to support students and their education.  

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

Executive Action

Donald Trump sees a huge problem with how high the tuition rates are increasing, and he’s taking action to assist struggling students.  In order to decrease student debt he’s striving to have the government pay the interest on student loans.  Trump believes that our students are the future of America and wants to allows our students to access the highest education they can receive without being burdened by tuition costs.  I definitely agree with his stance, and I support how he’s trying to make secondary education more accessible and less of a financial burden because the students of America are the future of America!  The executive branch that covers my issue is the Department of Education, and their mission statement is “to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.”  The Department of Education offers Grants and scholarships, which gives money to students who qualify,  to help assist students with high tuition costs.  I am satisfied with what the president says he’s going to do in order to make college more accessible; however, he has currently pushed this issue to the side and is tackling different issues.  So I would like to see if he will stick by his word and tackle the high prices of college tuition.  The Department of Educations relies heavily on funding, because they give out millions of dollars to students, so if funding was cut in this department there would be a huge effect.

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

Legislative Action

Congressman Desaulnier believes that the college tuition rates are too high for low income students, and he announced a bi-partisan legislation to expand pell grants to students in 2016.  Senator Harris shares the same position as Desaulnier, and she wants to make public college tuition free.  Senator Harris stated, “If we really want to help working Americans, then let’s take up causes that would actually put money into their hands, like raising the minimum wage, making public colleges and universities tuition-free, and guaranteeing access to health care for everyone.”  Senator Feinstein also believes that the high college tuition prices are a huge barrier that prevent students of low income families from attending a university.  Senator Feinstein stated, “We must continue do all we can to make a college education more accessible and affordable for all.”  As of now, there are over 30 legislative bills that address my issue.  Bill number H.R. 3476 is the most recent bill to address college tuition.  It creates the American Opportunity Tax Credit which increases the amount of tax credit a student can receive, increases the income threshold for this credit reduction, and 50% of this credit is refundable.  I would vote yes to this bill because it helps make secondary education more accessible to all students.  This bill originated in the House of Representatives, the House Committee of Ways and Means has reviewed it, and it is currently waiting for the House of Representatives to vote on it.  It’s amazing to see that our government is addressing the issue of college tuition and making it accessible to everyone; however, there is still a lot that needs to be done in order to fully relieve the financial burdens or college.  The subject of the article, “Exposing the College Tuition Problem” is to notify college students and their families why college tuition is rising.  The author of this article is Adam Wesolowski-Mantilla.  This article states that current economical inflation is the main reason why many colleges are forced to raise tuition.  Mr. Wesolowski-Mantilla also covers a wide range of facts that illustrate just how much tuition is increasing.  His target audience is highschool students and their families as he’s trying to warn them about the increase in tuition.  The main significants of the article is to shed light on how drastically the price of college tuition is increasing in the US.  I definitely agree with this article, because the high tuition prices are depriving many US students from attending universities, and also placing many of them in debt.

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

State Action

I sent this email to both Catherine Baker and Steven Glazer ( yes, I addressed them seperately as The Honorable Assembly member Catherine Baker and The Honorable Senator Glazer, and I didn’t combine both of their names in the email)

The Honorable Assembly member Catherine Baker and Senator Glazer,

The issue I am concerned about is the unreasonably high price of college tuition.  I am concerned about this issue because I am a high school senior who is experiencing the detrimental effects of high University tuition rates. I am currently a senior at Acalanes High School and I am researching this issue for my senior Government class.  Please clarify your stance on this issue.  Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,

Simon Oh

There are a variety of bills that deal with the issue of college tuition, one of these bills is AB-393 which was introduced in February 9, 2017.  The last major action of this bill was amending it in April 6, 2017.  This is an amazing bill that states community college cannot increase their tuition rates from their price on the date of December 31, 2016.  I definitely support this bill and I think this should be amended to further include public and private schools to help even more students who are suffering the effects of high schools tuition.

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

Constitutional Issue

Martinez V. Regents of the University of California is a California Supreme court case that was decided on the 15th of november 2010.  This case revolved around whether undocumented immigrants who have received their high school diploma should be able to pay instate tuition rates for postsecondary schools.  There fourteenth amendment is being questioned during this case, specifically the privileges and immunities clause, this is because non US citizens are being granted the same privileges as US citizens.  Unlawful aliens can be eligible for the same reduced tuition rate as lawful California residents.  This established the precedent that illegal immigrants are allowed to have the same educational rights as US citizens.  I don’t agree with this ruling at all, illegal immigrants shouldn’t pay the same tuition rates as California residents because the immigrants do not legally live in that state.  Local residents pay taxes for their state and should receive the benefits for reduced tuition, and it’s not fair for illegal immigrants to slide in and take advantage of reduced tuition without contributing to state taxes.  

The subject of the article, “Why Does A College Degree Cost So Much” is why the rates for college tuition are on the rise.  John W. Schoen is the author of this article.  This article states that current economical inflation is the main reason why many colleges are forced to raise tuition.  Mr. Schoen also covers a wide range of facts that illustrate just how much tuition is increasing.  His target audience is highschool students and their families as he’s trying to warn them about the increase in tuition.  The main significants of the article is to shed light on how drastically the price of college tuition is increasing in the US.  I definitely agree with this article, because the high tuition prices are depriving many US students from attending universities, and also placing many of them in debt.

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

Economic Assessment of College Tuition

Currently the high costs of college tuition is drastically effecting the lives and futures of high school and college students.  The unreasonably high tuition costs are preventing many bright American students from receiving higher education, and it’s resulting in stress not only on the students but their families as well.  The issue of college tuition is a want, and not a need.  Although allowing all students to have the same opportunities to receive a form of higher education would be fair, attending college is not a need.  The main service that would be needed for college tuition to be lowered (or even free), would be the government offering more money to students for financial aid.  The main factor of production that can resolve this problem is entrepreneurship, because if the government has more entrepreneurs to figure out ways to earn more profit they will have a surplus of income that they can use for more financial aid.  Increasing the financial aid money will be like the government putting an investment into American students, because the incentive is these students are the future of America, and will continue to innovate, research, and explore new ways to keep America prosperous.  One opportunity cost of the government paying for college tuition would be that the government would have less money to pay for infrastructure, medicare/medicaid, national security and other run government programs.  Another opportunity cost is that if colleges lower tuition then they will be earning less money, so they wont be able to spend as much to improve their campuses.  The benefits of Americans attending college outweigh the opportunity costs, because these students are the future of America, so the government should support them in order to keep America a political and economic powerhouse.  The colleges who charge the ridiculous prices for college tuition are the ones benefiting, because they are gaining an average of $250,000,000 per year just from tuition.  Resolving this issue would result in less stress and a better education for American Students.  This issue is not a result of an externality, because there are no outside factors that are effecting the high prices of college tuition, it’s just the colleges wanting more money.  

This graph depicts the constantly increasing prices of college tuition from 1995 to 2015.  The author of this graph is US News.  School tuition is putting unnecessary stress on American Students, and their families,  while also preventing many Americans from achieving a higher education.  The audience of this post is American students, their families, and concerned citizens.  There is no bias to this graph.  The significance of this graph is to show how high college tuition already is, and how its trending to increase in the future.  

[soh18ahsgov-blog]

Getting Started

The Higher Education Problem is a blog that informs Tumblr users of the hardships of the raising prices of college tuition.  The context of this blog revolves around the current prices of college tuition across America, and the drastic effect it has on U.S. students. This blog’s target audience are college students, upcoming college students, and their families. The author believes that the current prices of college are unreasonably too high, and have a negative impact on students. This blog strives to shed light on the current issue of college tuition, and wants to inform the American public of this problem.  Being a senior in high school who is planning on attending college next year, I definitely think that college tuition is a problem for myself and many American students.  The price of tuition can be over $50,000 a year for some schools! This cost can discourage many bright U.S. students from attending many great universities, and also leads to more stress on the student’s life and their families. More excellent blogs that report on this subject of college tuition include, College Tuition Assistance, US College Tuition Comparison, Cost of College on the Rise, College Costs, College Money Problems.  All of these blogs include excellent surveys, facts, illustrations, and other sites that have information on the topic of college tuition.  The blog Cost of College on the Rise has a very interesting post of a graph that compares college tuition and fees to other costs of the average college student.