Gaston Caperton: Trends in College Pricing

Thank You Mr. Graduate, I Will Have Fries with That!
The United States is facing a gigantic Debt problem, as we all know. Governments at all levels have simply been spending too much, which most Republicans and Democrats now seem willing to concede. But don’t expect to hear the following from many members of either party: We need to stop spending Taxpayer money on sending so many people to college! Indeed, President Obama has already said he’ll support Spending Cuts but not to education, and...

High time for workers to go back to school?
More education could give plenty of stalled careers a much-needed boost, and extended Tax Breaks will help foot the bill. Amid all the brouhaha at year's end over extending Bush-era Income Tax cuts, one important feature of the $858 billion tax package passed by the lame-duck Congress tended to get overlooked: At the last minute, almost as an afterthought, legislators approved a two-year extension of Section 127, the part of the Federal Tax code that allows employers to hand out up to $5,250 a ...

USA Funds Helps Families Apply for Financial Aid for College
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- USA Funds®, a nonprofit organization that helps American families benefit from postsecondary education, advises families planning to send Students to college during the 2011-2012 Academic Year to take advantage of free help in applying for Financial Aid. USA Funds is sponsoring College Goal Sunday in 10 states during the next several weeks to help Students and families navigate the financial aid process. The events will provide free assistance wi...

Va higher ed gets proposed funding infusion
Virginia's public colleges and universities will be eligible to apply for $50 million to enhance Student enrollment and retention, increase the number of students pursuing science and health-care fields, and boost undergraduate Financial Aid. Dan Ix, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia's finance policy director, said Tuesday that institutions must apply for the funding by submitting proposals to Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson. The grants would go to institutions who propos...

Va to consider banning illegals from colleges
Virginia legislators will consider whether to bar Illegal Immigrants from enrolling in state's public colleges and universities. Del. Christopher Peace's bill would amend state law to explicitly prohibit people who are in the United States illegally from being admitted to Virginia's public two-year or four-year institutions. Several previous attempts to pass similar Legislation in Virginia haven't succeeded. Federal law prohibits such people from paying in-state Tuition at colleges and universit...

Ivy Chase
It is the time of year when high-school seniors zip uncountable college applications across the country. Many yearn to be accepted in top private colleges and universities such as Harvard or Williams and fear that they might get stuck at a lowly "state school." This bias is age-old, and was perhaps most succinctly described by Friedrich Nietzsche, who said that "in large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad." But...

Va. to consider banning illegals from public universities
Virginia legislators will consider whether to bar Illegal Immigrants from enrolling in state's public colleges and universities. Del. Christopher Peace's bill would amend state law to explicitly prohibit people who are in the United States illegally from being admitted to Virginia's public two-year or four-year institutions. Several previous attempts to pass similar Legislation in Virginia haven't succeeded. Federal law prohibits such people from paying in-state Tuition at colleges and universit...

California lawmaker revives bill to give undocumented students access to financial aid
A bill that would grant undocumented California Students access to Financial Aid is being revived in the State Legislature this week. The California DREAM Act would allow Students who are Illegal Immigrants to benefit from the same Financial Aid as other California Students attending the state's public colleges and universities. Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, introduced the bill Tuesday based on one he first proposed as a State Senator in 2006. The previous version passed in the state S...

California universities, colleges face deep cuts
Hundreds of thousands of Students are likely to be turned away from California State University and the community colleges next year, while the University of California won't rule out raising Tuition - again. "This is a sad day for California," UC President Mark Yudof said, summing up the reaction to Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal Monday to cut $500 million each from the Budgets of UC and CSU, and an additional $400 million from the state's community college system. The cuts, meant to help close ...

Jerry Brown budget protects teacher and correctional officer unions, but probably screws yours truly
Everybody who lives and works in California is going to suffer from Jerry Brown's proposed Budget. Everybody except the unions to whom he owes his election. The teachers' unions spent millions to elect Brown. Their payoff? K-12 education was fenced off and spared cuts in the proposed Budget. Brown plans to fund doing so by a Referendum extending what were supposed to be temporary taxes. The correctional officers' union also spent millions to elect Brown. Their payoff? Corrections a...

Higher education leaders anxious about cuts in proposed California budget
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposals to slash state spending on Higher Education has triggered anxiety across California's already Budget-battered public colleges and universities about possible new waves of staff and faculty Layoffs, reductions in class offerings and higher Tuition bills. Administrators said it was too soon to say definitively how they would respond if the Legislature approves the $1.4 billion in proposed state funding cuts for the University of California, California State University...

A breakdown of Jerry Brown's budget
Taxes Gov. Jerry Brown wants voters to renew $9 billion in higher sales, income and vehicle taxes in a Special Election this spring. The Legislature passed the increases as part of the 2009 Budget, and they will otherwise expire by the end of June. Lawmakers' approval would be needed to put the extension on the ballot. Brown would ask voters to prolong a 0.25-percentage point surcharge on state income taxes, a 0.5-percentage-point increase in the vehicle license fee, a 1-cent increase in the ...

Governor Nikki Haley's inaugural address (full text)
GOVERNOR NIKKI R. HALEY: I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out on this beautiful, chilly morning. On this special day, I want to thank Michael and my two sweet Children for the unconditional love and support they continue to show me. We as a family are honored to serve this great state. Michael and I want to thank both of our families for the strength, guidance, and advice they give us during the best and the most challenging times. They are constant reminders of what it means...

Release: Haleys Inaugural Address
(Editor’s Note: This is a Speech from an elected official. It does not necessarily reflect the editorial position of FITSNews.com. To submit your news release, email blast, media advisory or issues statement for publication, click here ). THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF S.C. GOV. Nikki Haley I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out on this beautiful, chilly morning. On this special day, I want to thank Michael and my two sweet Children for the unconditional love and support they ...

Pass the California DREAM Act
California Assemblyman Gil Cedillo reintroduced a bill today that would make undocumented College Students in California eligible for in-state Financial Aid. Prospects for passage of the California DREAM Act are brighter this year since Governor Jerry Brown said he supported a previous version of the bill, while Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed it three times. As a state measure, the law would have no effect on an applicant's Immigration status, which falls under federal authority. Even so, pas...

California Reintroduces Its Own Dream Act
The DREAM Act is back, in California at least. Today Assemblyman Gil Cedillo re-introduced the DREAM Act which would allow undocumented youth who are accepted to college the ability to apply for institutional Financial Aid and state grants from the state’s public universities, state and community colleges. Cedillo’s new strategy is to split the bill in two. The San Jose Mercury News reports that one bill would allow undocumented immigrant Students who are California residents to appl...

Gov. Christie Wants More Autonomy For College Presidents
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he wants to do away with a cap in Tuition increases at the state’s public universities. Christie told New Jersey Press Media he may have made a mistake last year when he imposed a 4 percent limit on increases. He said college presidents should Be Free to seek market prices and have more autonomy over the universities and that it should not be the Governor’s job to manage the state’s universities. A spokesman for the...

HOPE Scholarships Provide College Tuition and Vocational Training to Poor Youth
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of poor youth in Developing Countries now have opportunities to escape Poverty through education and vocational training with the HOPE--Helping Overcome Poverty through Education-- Fund provided by Children International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization. Currently, nearly 8,420 HOPE Scholarships have been awarded to youth ages 14 to 18 to continue their education, according to Children International's latest HOPE Fund report. The r...

LA County CEO: Brown's Budget Will Hurt
Los Angeles - A top public official said Tuesday he's worried about whether Los Angeles County will have enough funding to support Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to shift a host of responsibilities from the state to counties. County CEO Bill Fujioka told county supervisors that California's most populous county should embrace Brown's proposal to restructure State Government to help resolve a projected $25.4 billion Deficit. Brown on Monday called for $12.5 billion in Spending Cuts, including reduct...

The Coming Constitutional Debate
The Constitution has returned to Congress. It began with a ceremonial reading of the document on the House floor for the first time in US history. While the event had some problems, the act of reading the document that provides the authority for Congress in the first place sets the tone and defines the core purpose of the new Congress: to restore constitutional limits on the Federal Government. The real test comes with the debates over the new House rule requiring that each piece of legislatio...

Keep Track of Student Loans in One Place
Have a lot of Student Loans but not sure exactly how much you owe or who to pay? Join the club. Student loans are frustratingly complicated; it's not easy to keep track of how much you owe and to whom. Enter the National Student Loan Data System, a website with real information you can use. The Federal Government tracks every federal student loan you ever borrowed and lists it there. Think it might be scary to see all your loans in one place? Well, yeah, but you gotta know. My loans span a 10-ye...

Nathan Deal's inaugural address
Despite the freezing weather and snow and ice which caused many Georgia and Atlanta events to be cancelled, some activities went on. At noon on Monday, Nathan Deal was inaugurated as Georgia's Governor for the next four years. On this second week of the second decade of the 21st Century, my wife Sandra and I enter the service of our native state with excited expectancy, sincere humility and unwavering resolve. As we stand here in this beautiful Capitol building, I recall my first visit here...

Medicaid under scrutiny in tight budget year
WASHINGTON-Despite tight Budgets and ballooning enrollment, Medicaid programs in Connecticut and across the country were able to preserve or even expand Health Care services to the poor in 2010, according to a new report released Tuesday. But 2011 could be dramatically different. Arizona officials have already moved to cut off Medicaid coverage for people in need of organ transplants, resulting in the deaths of two patients. Officials in Texas have pondered dropping out of the Medicaid program...

REAL ID Is Still Dead, But It Is Walking Dead
It’s been a while, so let’s review: REAL ID is the national ID law Congress passed in May of 2005. It gave states a three-year deadline to produce IDs meeting national standards and to network their databases of driver information together into a national ID system. In regulations it proposed in March 2007, the Department of Homeland Security extended that draconian deadline. States would have five years, starting in May 2008, to move all driver’s license and ID card holders in...

Readers Respond on Foreclosure Mess
If I may shorten McMegan's post (and please correct me if I misrepresent). The Libertarian answer is the same as for any property dispute - figure out in court who owns the property based on contract law. If there is grey area in the law, judges have discretion and legislatures can fix the law if they want. Why is this a question? And what the hell is the "Democratic" solution? Give everyone that has a Mortgage their house free and clear? Let me know so I can stop my next payment. And for that m...