Today, students across the country are taking action as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Education. You can read more about it and find local actions here, read Campus Progress’s statement here, and take action here.
The latest updates:
The national day of action to defend public education kicked off this morning with a blockade of the entrances to the University of California at Santa Cruz. Approximately 400 students are blocking the entrances to the school, infuriating commuters. As one car tried to tag along behind a police car to get through the crowd the driver has “run over” 4 students ending in at least one broken leg.
-Via @occupyca on Twitter
Students protesting at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, demanding free education for poor citizens, were dispersed by the police when they were sprayed with water hoses.
-Via iafrica.com
To get students excited about action all over the UC system today a prominent building at UC Riverside has been “decorated” with an encouraging banner.
-Via Occupy California
Tomorrow, students from around the country will be taking action against budget cuts to education, and all of the tuition hikes, enrollment caps, cuts to statestudentaid, lay-offs, wage cuts, furloughs, and other problems that they have caused. Here at Campus Progress, we hope that college administrations, state governments, and Congress are paying close attention: students are hurting, angry, and organized. You can see if there are actions planned in your area here.
There are already some great ways to follow this mobilization (for example, http://studentactivism.net/ has a great maps and a great blog), but I wanted to add two more options (below). We will also be posting some updates on this site tomorrow.
We disagree. No paranoid rhetoric about indocrination can hide the facts (via the Wonk Room):
Conservative projections on the real fiscal rate of return on public educational investments are high:10% for high quality preschool programs, 15% for innovative K-12 reforms like First Things First, and 10.3% for investments to encourage college access and graduation.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Other research has shown that increasing education levels means less incarceration, higher wages, less unemployment, and even longer life spans. Hopefully, lawmakers and the public will remember the following words of wisdom from Derek Bok, a former president of Harvard University:
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
Yesterday, President Obama answered a few of the 11,000 questions submitted on YouTube as part of its State of the Union Q&A. The first question on education (around 17:00) was about college affordability, and Obama again expressed his support for legislation that would cut subsidies to student loan companies, and invest the savings into Pell grants and other education initiatives. Check it out:
State budget cuts can lead to tuition hikes, cuts in enrollment, shortfalls for state financial aid programs, layoffs, larger class sizes or fewer offered courses, and more. If there was ever a time for a large federal investment in higher education, it’s now.
One of the biggest sticking points against reform has been the fear that the government couldn’t handle the increase in loan volume and that schools would have a hard time switching over to the Direct Loan Program. Duncan sets the record straight:
By working with private sector companies with expertise in the field, we are prepared to initiate all new student loans in the existing federal Direct Loan program. Right now, the Education Department already owns and services 80% of the student loans made last year. It owns such a high volume of loans chiefly because it had to take emergency action in 2008 to ensure students had access to loans when lending in the nation’s credit markets was frozen.
Our experience handling the bulk of student loans makes me confident in our capability. This year alone, an additional 500 colleges and universities joined the Direct Loan program. Just last month, the department’s independent inspector general’s office issued a report documenting that the Education Department had taken the right management steps so that all loans can be serviced by the Direct Loan program.
In a recent survey by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, schools that have made the switch to direct lending overwhelmingly reported the conversion was easy and quick. That is just one reason why that association of financial aid experts, along with organizations representing the nation’s largest public and private universities, community colleges and college students, support the department’s Direct Loan proposal.
By working with private sector companies with expertise in the field, we are prepared to initiate all new student loans in the existing federal Direct Loan program. Right now, the Education Department already owns and services 80% of the student loans made last year. It owns such a high volume of loans chiefly because it had to take emergency action in 2008 to ensure students had access to loans when lending in the nation’s credit markets was frozen. (more…)
On Wednesday, Dec. 2nd, Campus Progress, the US Students Association, and US PIRG sponsored an event about the college affordability crisis, student organizing for affordable and accessible universities, and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Much of the discussion centered around the 32% fee hikes in California, and the student reaction to that decision. Check it out:
The battle to make college more affordable has come down to a critical few weeks in the Senate. The banks and student loan companies already have spent millions of dollars on lobbying, PR firms, and advertisements in their attempt to stop reform and hang on to wasteful government subsidies. This would mean $87 billion less for programs to make college more affordable and accessible.
Now Campus Progress is taking action. We’ve raised money to put this :30 second spot on cable TV and on Hulu in key states across the country:
We don’t have the kind of money student loan companies have, so we’re going to need your help spreading the ad on Facebook, Twitter, and email if we’re going to get the word out. Click here to help us spread the word.
A new poll by the nonprofit Pew Hispanic Center shows that Latinos in the Untied States value a college degree more than the general population, but that less than half of the demographic actually plans to attend a university.
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
Conservative projections on the real fiscal rate of return on public educational investments are high:
