Paying for College

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/education/08education.html

The House overwhelmingly approved a bill aimed at cutting college costs by trying to hinder the rapid rise of tuition costs. The bill will require colleges to publish a list of the most expensive colleges and reduce federal grant eligibility for states that lower financing for public colleges. The Bush administration strongly criticized the bill but has not threatened a veto. The bill hopes to make higher education more affordable and easier to navigate. The bill calls for raising the maximum Pell grant from $5,800 to $9,000. Additionally the Senate Finance Committee has asked for detailed information on tuitions and endowments from the 135 wealthiest colleges.

This bill is important to the U.S. and particularly college students in that it aims to create a fairer higher education system and provide more of the economically disadvantaged with the same opportunities for success as the upper and middle class. Hopefully this will begin a shift toward a higher education system based solely on merit and void of economic and bureaucratic obstacles for poorer Americans. It is important for society in general to provide a reasonable means for the most intelligent and capable people to rise to the top regardless of the economic situation they are born into.