McCain, Obama: Making college more affordable

By: Hess, Mike

Posted: 6/27/08

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) have recently presented their plans for improving the higher education system, covering issues like the price of college tuition and tax credits.
Obama, the presumptive democratic presidential candidate, discussed part of his plan when he addressed the Wayne County Community College in Detroit, Mich.
"I will make college affordable for every American. Period," Obama said, as reported by The Detroit News.
Obama's web site explains the plan in further detail, stating, "Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans."
News 8 Austin reported that McCain is also advocating a "'continuity plan' that would make sure student loans aren't disrupted this fall."
With Obama's plan, The Detroit News also reported that students would need to serve 100 hours of community service to qualify for the tax credit. Obama did not say at WCCC or on his campaign's web site whether any assistance would be available for students at private universities, and the campaign representatives could not be reached for comment.
Obama also wants to make the application process for financial aid easier by, "Eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application," according to the campaign web site.
However, Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for presumptive Republican presidential candidate McCain, said Obama's plan has flaws.
"Every college-savings account starts with a job, and Barack Obama has proposed tax hikes on over 21 million small businesses that drive job growth," Bounds said. "While Sen. Obama shares John McCain's concern over the high price of college tuition, there is a critical job-gap that must be addressed."
These sentiments were echoed by The College Republicans at Drexel University, according to President Ivan Skakun, a sophomore dual-major in politics and history and business administration, as well as Treasurer Michael Kheifetz, a sophomore economics and business administration major.
"It is more important to get a better job where you will be able to pay off your loans than to spend 100 hours of community service when you do not even know whether students will do this or not," Skakun said. "It might make more sense to spend that time in the library, getting more knowledge. I would definitely agree with McCain on this issue. When you are paying $50,000 a year for school, $4,000 is not going to make a big difference."
Kheifetz said he believes the most important thing that can be done to lower tuition costs and to make college more affordable is extending the tax cuts, and disapproved of the economics of Obama's plan.
"I don't really believe too much in government services," Kheifetz said. "What concerns me is that Obama wants to increase the capital gains tax, and wants to raise the cap on social security, producing more taxes."
Capital gains tax was raised in the past and had a negative impact on the economy and ultimately on the affordability of a college education, Kheifetz added.
Representatives from Drexel Democrats could not be reached for comment.