Daniel Frank ‘12

President Obama has put forth his plan to increase federal grants for universities and low-interest loans for students. The plan, Obama says, will reduce the cost of universities and increase the availability of higher education in the United States. The changes would include increasing the federal investment in the Perkins loan program from $1 billion to $8 billion, allocating more grant money and better loan options to schools that effectively reduce tuition costs, and reserving $1 billion of federal funds for rewarding states that make an effort to curb costs.

The proposition is part of the Obama administration’s initiative to make universities affordable for more Americans, and is based in part on the trend of increasing costs associated with higher education over the past several decades (even after adjusting for inflation).

Opponents of the plan insist that it makes little sense logistically and that it exacerbates the problem of the massive national debt. Schools will not necessarily be able to cut tuition costs enough to qualify for and benefit from federal rewards, say opponents, and schools that cut tuition costs may not be able to afford their own scholarship and grant programs or accommodate low-income students.