The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
On television and billboards throughout Hampton Roads, advertisements inform students that if they enroll at Tidewater Community College, it can be a gateway to four-year schools such as the University of Virginia.
A bill before the House would help 800 more families pay for that schooling, Ellen Davenport, a representative of the state's community colleges, said before the House education committee Monday. But the bill may not survive after a referral to the appropriations committee, where many proposals go to die.
The bill, by Virginia Beach Del. Bob Tata, a Republican, would expand the income bracket to qualify for the state's two-year college transfer grant. Right now, eligibility stops with students whose families have four people and make $60,000 a year, testified Davenport, assistant vice chancellor for governmental relations and institutional advancement for Virginia's Community Colleges. The bill would extend that income to $71,000 for a family of four.
The program provides $1,000 grants to students who complete an associate's degree at a state junior or community college with at least a 3.0 grade point average and transfer to a four-year Virginia school. Students who major in science, teaching, engineering, math or nursing are eligible for $1,000 more.
The expansion is aimed at helping families afford college and meet the governor's goal of conferring 100,000 more degrees in the next 15 years, Tata said. The effort would cost about $3 million over the next two fiscal years.
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I wish we could get as much emphasis on technical education
The presumption that college is the best route for everyone is suspect. Part of the reason our manufacturing sector suffers is that so many college-educated presume to understand technology, applied science and the goals of those who work with their hands. Those of us deep in engineering and technical skills are often perplexed by decisions made by legislative bodies of lawyers guided by college-educated lobbyists. Practical skills that were once passed from parent to child hardly exist in many families. Thousands used their GI bill to learn trades and provided our skilled labor for 50 years. Who will build and fix our stuff going forward? Will we be rich enough to throw away and buy new from China as we have been doing? How smart is that?
Hate to go negative here,
Hate to go negative here, but the truth is government education subsidy, through grants or low-interest loans, is exactly what has driven the cost of education through the roof. State subsidy may be less destructive than federal subsidy, as state officials are slightly more accountable, and state residents can always vote with their feet, yet it nonetheless is another instance of seeming to help while wreaking havoc on the market. As a result of education subsidy all colleges and universities now see themselves entitled to massive revenues. Meanwhile quality of education has decreased dramatically. This cost increase / quality decrease occurs in every sector that government subsidizes (health care, banking, even auto manufacturing now).
Too negative
State universities have operated with subsidies for decades and have long offered lower tuition than private schools. They are the key to the knowledge based economy that we have today. The entire generation of WWII vets received government subsidized college education through the GI Bill. The facts are these government investments are critical to keeping America competitive in the world. Without them we will revert to third world status and anyone born into a working class or poor family will have almost no chance at upward mobility.
How is that when the end
How is that when the end game of government-subsidized education, now clearly apparent, is a workforce nowhere near competitive with the rest of the world? Notice how for decades educational standards have declined significantly while costs have skyrocketed. Literature from the 19th century and prior will astound you with how independent we were at very young ages. The fear is unfounded that we will revert to "third world status" without government education. Furthermore an over-educated workforce is not an asset but a recipe for dependence. The free market does a much better job of providing a superior education at a better price while distributing it appropriately.