Members of the U.S. House and Senate have filed a flurry of bills related to higher education. The proposed legislation presents various solutions to the problems of high cost and uneven quality in American colleges and universities.
Stephanie Keaveney looked at the proposals—and their chances of success—in today’s article for the Pope Center.
Six bills focus on student aid and access, none with strong chances of passage, according to Keaveney.
Two bills, one each in the House and the Senate, purport to control college costs. In reality, they simply shift the burden of paying tuition from students to taxpayers.
Bills have also been filed to amend FERPA, simplify university compliance, and support academic freedom.
None of the bills are expected to pass. Keaveney writes:
“Despite an abundance of proposals and countless hearings, Congress has only passed one bill related to higher education since it convened in January 2015: the Federal Perkins Loan Program Extension Act of 2015 which, despite its name, phases out the Perkins loan program. The lack of movement isn’t abnormal for Congress; overall, only 3 percent of bills are ever signed into law.”
You can read Keaveney’s full description of the bills and her analysis of the biggest debates in Congress here.
This article comes to our blog from the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.
One way to control costs is to quit paying professors over 400,000 to teach one class like the lefts hero,Elizabeth Warren.This women is in the one% but that’s o.k. with the Lonnie’s and George’s of the world.As long as the are teaching it’s the rich that screwing us all they skate right by the critics in the press and the Gimmedat party.Another way to cut costs would be to quit paying coaches millions to teach kids games.I love sports but what coaches are being paid is obscene.Especially,if it is a tax supported school.
This is energy,not education, but I think it is what happens in education.Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.
Congress said, “Someone may steal from it at night.”
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.
Then Congress said, “How does the watchman do his job without instruction?”
So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.
Then Congress said, “How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?”
So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One was to do the studies and one was to write the reports.
Then Congress said, “How are these people going to get paid?”
So they created two positions: a time keeper and a payroll officer then hired two people.
Then Congress said, “Who will be accountable for all of these people?”
So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.
Then Congress said, “We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $918,000 over budget, we must cut back.”
So they laid-off the night watchman.
NOW slowly, let it sink in.
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter. Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Carter administration?
Anybody?
Anything?
No?
Didn’t think so!
Bottom line is, we’ve spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency, the reason for which very few people who read this can remember!
Ready??
It was very simple… and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on 8/04/1977, TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Hey, pretty efficient, huh???
AND NOW IT’S 2016 — 39 YEARS LATER — AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS “NECESSARY” DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. IT HAS 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB IT HAS DONE!
(THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?”) 39 years ago 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports. Today 70% of our oil consumption is foreign imports.
Ah, yes — good old Federal bureaucracy.
NOW, WE HAVE TURNED OVER THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?
Hello!! Anybody Home?
Signed….The Night Watchman