Education Assistance Proposal (Includes Update)

Given the billions of dollars handed out by the U.S. government this year, I figured I may try to get some money to actually do some good. I wrote my senators, Sens. Bayh and Lugar, and President Obama about my idea and have included the letter to the President below. Let it be known that I am fiscally conservative -- one of my friends calls me the cheapest guy he's ever met -- and often cringe at the amount of money being proposed in Washington. My new government job would have repaid up to $20,000 of any federal student loans, but I didn't have any. It was suggested that with the promise of a job offer I should apply for as much as I can since it would basically be free money, less some interest and taxes. It would be terribly hypocritical of me to act on these suggestions and I haven't thought twice about doing it. However, I think that higher education is one of the best investments this country can make and, as you will see, I do not shy away from $100 billion for this matter. Since I am effectively finished with my higher education for the forseeable future and would not benefit from what I am proposing, I think it is even more important that I offer my opinion.



Dear Mr. President,

My name is Lucas Robinson. I am 25 years old and am a lifelong resident of Indiana. In light of the most recent report by the CBO that the TARP program is expected to cost U.S. taxpayers approximately $160 billion ($160B), I propose the following idea for your review.

With the recent loss of jobs and desire of many people to continue their education in mind, I believe that providing educational assistance is very important. As such, I propose that the federal government issue $100B to some of the top public universities in the nation.

A total of $1B would be distributed to each of 100 national public universities and colleges based on their overall ranking, provided the following conditions are met:
At least one institution from each state will receive $1B
At most three institutions from each state will receive $1B
The $1B is to be used solely for scholarship purposes

According to the US News and World Report (which provided the top 68 public institutions for 2010), there are 13 states which do not have a public institution in the top 68, 18 have one, and only two states, New York and California, have more than three. One option is as follows:
Provided each state with at most one institution in the top 68 (a total of 31) has an additional institution chosen from outside the top 68, there will be $6B left over for the remaining 13 states with two in the top 68 to receive a third. If the money is restricted to an endowment and only the interest from the principal is used, with a relatively conservative 5% ROI (setting aside excess profit for down years) this will provide each college $50M annually from which scholarship money can be given. Purdue University's West Lafayette campus, with 30,000 undergraduates, could give 1 in 3 students $5,000. Certainly the money doesn't need to be distributed evenly, but since this idea is to offer higher education assistance at large most of the money should be distributed in generic scholarships (perhaps at least 50% of the money must be offered in at least 80% of the scholarships).

I understand that you are busy, but I ask that you consider my proposal. Properly managed, it could provide valuable assistance to many people pursuing higher education for decades to come. Also, if $100B is too great maybe $50B could be issued now with the balance issued later provided the program is successful.

Thank you,

Lucas Robinson

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-top-public



I received the following automated response from the White House. I doubt that I will get any actual response to any of the three messages I sent, but if you believe in this proposal as I do you should discuss this with your own elected officials. Perhaps something may come of it.

NOTE: I deleted the automated message, but it thanked me for my concern and offering my voice. It also reminded me that the White House receives thousands of messages a day and, as a result, I shouldn't expect anything more on the matter.






Update (Feb. 9, 2010)

I received a message from Sen. Lugar on Dec. 17, 2009 that actually addressed my proposal. He mentioned that Congress passed Higher Education reauthorization legislation in 2008 to increase Pell Grants (via the stimulus bill passed that year), simplify the FAFSA form, and require that textbook prices be disclosed to faculty and students, among othe things. Also, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction Act in 2007 that redirected about $20B from subsidies for lenders to student aid to reduce student debt, allows students to apply for loan forgiveness after 10 years if they enter public service jobs, and lets students cap federal loan repayments at 15% of their discretionary income, among other things.

I also received a message more recently from the office of Sen. Bayh that was much more vague and rattled off talking points that fit my overall topic of education. I am unconvinced that anyone actually read my message all the way through, but instead quickly realized the intent of my message and packaged a response.

Still no response from the White House, aside from the automated message.