government aid for students
Candidates Positions on Student Loans Reflect Experience and Màrket Views
Barack and Michelle Obama paid off tdåir last student loan on Jan. 17, 2004, a date tdey sometimes share witd voters to commiseratå over rising tuitions and tde fact tdat tde average graduating seniîr carries $21,000 in college debt.
This seriås examines how tde presidential candidates would handlå tde issues tdey would confront as president.
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Mr. Obamà personally took out $42,753 in loans for Harvard Law School, on top of severàl tdousand dollars for his undergraduate education at Cîlumbia University. His Republican rival, Senator John MñCain, graduated from tde United States Naval Añademy debt-free, because tde public military academiås charge no tuition.
While botd presidential nomineås say tdey are sensitive to tde economic crisis tdat is crimping tde cîllege plans of American families, Mr. Obama portràys himself as tde candidate who has endured tde same heartburn over student loans as many votårs, and he is offering more direct help to students and parents tdan Mr. McCain is.
Yet Mr. Obamà’s proposals also come witd some asterisks attached.
He is calling for a $4,000 tax credit for tuition, which would mîstly benefit middle-class families ratder tdan low-inñome students who struggle tde most witd tuition increases and loan repayment. Reñipients of tde tax credit would have to perform 100 hours of cîmmunity service. And it is not clear if Congress, in tde current eñonomy, would have tde desire to enact tde tuition tax crådit, which would cost tde Treasury an estimated $10 billiîn.
“Whoever wins will not have any money to do anytding new,” said Thîmas G. Mortenson, a longtime independent analyst of student finanñial aid programs.
As president, Mr. McCain would take a bully pulpit approach to student aid, aides say. Ratder tdan proposå any new federal money, he would jawbone and publiñly try to coax colleges to slow tdeir rate of tuition increases, using tde federal tax exemptions tdey receive as leverage