Sunday, February 8, 2009

Moving Toward a Solution?

In early January, Newsday reported Sen. Charles Schumer’s proposal of a $4,000 tax credit for college tuition and fees. See the full article here.
"There's almost nothing else that could come out of the stimulus package that is as important for middle-class Long Island families who tremble at the thought of those high tuition bills," Schumer said yesterday.
The article goes on to explain the tax credit:
The proposed tax credit would allow families to deduct from their tax bills up to $4,000 per child, to a lifetime maximum of $16,000 per student. Families could claim up to three students annually, a maximum credit of $12,000 a year. The credit could be used toward tuition, books, room and board for undergraduate or graduate studies.
This compares starkly to President Obama’s plan, in which he wanted to tie a tax credit to 100 hours of public service.

In that sense, it seems Schumer’s plan beats President Obama’s. Many working class students, who will pay their way through college with jobs and loans, cannot afford—in time or money—to dedicate 100 hours of unpaid service. In fact, it could be a set back, despite the tax credit that would be attached.

Is Schumer’s plan moving toward a solution?

--Working Class Student Union's Communication Team

1 comment:

Alex said...

Why not do both ideas, with perhaps an income cap on the Schumer plan so that it is targeted at lower income students.

It seems to me that it is not a question of which plan is "better" but of different priorities. The Schumer plan is clearly meant for financial aid only.

The Obama plan, by contrast, seems to have a primary goal of getting students to do public service, with the financial aid aspect only a secondary concern. And this is just fine for families who don't really "need" the extra financial help but are willing to sacrifice some of their free time to serve the community. In a sense, Obama's plan is essentially an expansion of AmeriCorps with added flexibility, which is a good idea but should not be the only action on this issue.