A DEBT FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION By: Katrina vanden Heuvel

1. A DEBT FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION By: Katrina vanden Heuvel By: Megan Gillespie, Margie Moyer, Tyler Glasser, Ryan Yee

2. Last Wednesday — almost a month after Congress failed to prevent student loan rates from doubling — Democrats and Republicans reached a compromise that will keep rates low, at least temporarily, for most graduates. From a body with a record of procrastinating on student debt worse than students procrastinate on term papers, this was welcome news. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

3. Indeed, the price of higher education — and how that price is paid — is still a huge problem in this country. Federal and student loan debt now exceeds $1 trillion. Today, the average graduate leaves school with nearly $30,000 in debt.

4. And those are just the students who actually graduate. For millions of students, America’s university system is not a pathway to success but a debt trap. As of 2011, nearly half the students enrolled in four-year programs — and more than 70 percent of students in two-year programs — failed to earn their degrees within that time, with many dropping out because of the cost. They leave school far worse than they arrived: saddled with debt, but with no degree to help them land a job and pay off the debt.

5. What’s more, according to some experts, almost half of low-income college-eligible students don’t enroll in four-year colleges because of the sticker shock of tuition. And all of this is happening as state and community systems of higher education face unprecedented budget cuts, leaving students with even bigger bills. A stopgap reduction in loan rates won’t do anything to fix this. We need a whole new model for financing higher education.

6. Fortunately, though Washington remains perpetually paralyzed, some states are demonstrating refreshing creativity and determination in tackling this issue. Last month, the Oregon legislature passed a bill that paves the way for students to attend state and community colleges without having to pay tuition or take out traditional loans.

7. Once Gov. John Kitzhaber signs the bill — as he is expected to do — the state’s Higher Education Coordination Commission will get to work designing a “Pay It Forward, Pay It Back” financing model, similar to ones used in Australia and the United Kingdom. Under this model, students would pay nothing while in school. Instead, after graduation, alumni would pay a flat 3 percent of their income for the next two decades or so to fund the education of future students. Those who attend for less time would pay a pro-rated amount.

8. What this means is that the state’s university system should eventually pay for itself. College economics classes have always taught that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” But students in Oregon may soon learn that there is such a thing as a debt-free economics class.

9. As I’ve written, this marks an enormous stride toward eliminating the kind of crushing student debt that burdens 37 million Americans. “Pay It Forward, Pay It Back” asks the most of those graduates who are best equipped to pay and the least of graduates who can’t. It also unravels one of the most pernicious moral hazards of a college education: Universities claim to prepare students for the workforce, yet they are paid whether they fulfill that promise or not. And it would eliminate the role of big banks, which have built a lucrative industry from student loans.

10. This victory is the result of tireless organizing and policy creativity by the state’s Working Families Party, which worked with allies to build a coalition of students, advocates and organizations, from theEconomic Opportunity Institute toMoveon.org to the faith-basedJubilee USA. Their success speaks volumes about the power of smart, strategic organizing to effect real change.

11. Of course, as with any new, sweeping proposal, there are concerns. Some policymakers have balkedat the plan’s startup costs, which are estimated to begin at $1.4 billion the first year, though they will decrease over time as more alumni pay into the system. Others worry that linking tuition to income will incentivize colleges to cut down on training for modest-paying, but necessary, professions, such as teaching.

12. These are valid concerns — but they are far smaller, more tractable issues than the vicious cycle of debt, default and bankruptcy at work in our current higher education system. By and large, “Pay It Forward, Pay It Back” is an idea with more promise than pitfalls.

13. Even the education policy community has rallied around the general policy framework that Oregon’s proposal uses: automatically enrolling student borrowers in income-based repayment. In a new study by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, thought leaders in business, higher education, civil rights and public policy all submitted white papers on “reimagining” student aid “design and delivery.” “The papers reached near-unanimity on a few points,” according to a review by Inside Higher Ed, and income-based repayment was one.

14. What happens in Oregon, in this case, shouldn’t stay in Oregon. Congress may have given us a short-term answer on student loan rates. But lower rates don’t begin to answer the question of how to fix a fundamentally broken system. Maybe Congress can learn a thing or two from states like Oregon. The Washington Post Company

15. PAPA Purpose • Convince the reader to advocate for Oregon style college system • Change local government school funding • “What happens in Oregon, in this case, shouldn’t stay in Oregon.” • “Congress can learn a thing or two from states like Oregon.”

16. PAPA Audience • Voters • Congress • College students or high school upperclassmen • Colleges across the USA • Educated People • “low income college-eligible students” • “Congress failed to prevent …” • “college students saddled with debt” • “Pay It Forward, Pay It Back” • “America’s University System”

17. PAPA Persona • Speaker: -Katrina vanden Heuvel • author • woman, well educated in college information and financial matters, works for Washington Post • Diction • unprecedented, pro-rated, stopgap, pernicious, lucrative • Price of higher education • “Federal and student loan debt now exceeds $1 trillion.” • “Today the average graduate leaves school with nearly $30,000 in debt.”

18. PAPA Argument • Other colleges across the nation should switch to Oregon’s method of financing or a similar plan. • Students should continue to attend and finish college, even though the debt is large. • “We need a whole new model for financing higher education … the Oregon legislature passed a bill that paves the way for students to attend state and community colleges without having to pay tuition or take out traditional loans.” • “America's university system is not a pathway to success but a debt trap.” • students need to finish their “degree to help them land a job and pay off the debt.”

19. DICTION Formal- “stopgap,” “unprecedented,” “pro-rated;” words similar to these appear throughout the article and are meant for well-educated people, or those well-versed in finance Imagery- “saddled with debt,” like a camel is burdened with packs or a horse with a heavy person on it; these things show restriction Theme words: (naming agencies adds to credibility of argument) - “Economic opportunity institute to Moveon.org to the faith based Jubilee USA” - “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation” - “Gov. John Kitzhaber” and “Higher Education Coordination Commission”

20. TONES (in chronological order) • hopeful- “this was welcome news” • to disappointment- “But lets not get ahead of ourselves.” • serious- “...saddled with debt, but with no degree to help them land a job.” • urging- “We need a whole new model for financing higher education.” • then back to hope- “fortunately… some states are demonstrating refreshing creativity and determination in tackling this issue”

21. SYNTAX • varying sentence lengths short sentences when criticizing government effort in funding issues, to show displeasure at the action already taken: “A stopgap reduction in loan rates won’t do anything to fix this.” longer sentences when describing the issue or plan, to make sure the argument contains thorough evidence: “As in 2011, nearly half the students…” transitions at the beginning of almost every paragraph and sentence, leading the reader to the next idea: “As I’ve written…” “What’s more…” “Indeed…”

22. SCHEMES • alliteration- emphasizes the phrase as an important idea. • “perpetually paralyzed” (in relation to the government on college funding). • “bigger bills” ( emphasizes that the students in college have more debt to pay off) • allusion- “What happens in Oregon… shouldn’t stay in Oregon.” Humor through sarcasm (related to a well-known saying) is relatable to most audiences.

23. OVERALL STRUCTURE CLEAR BEGINNING: vanden Heuvel sets up the paper with an attention grabbing sentence. • “...Democrats and Republicans reached a compromise that will keep rates low…” MIDDLE: tone shift, accompanied by information to contradict the first paragraph. • “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” • “Today, the average graduate leaves school with nearly $30,000 in debt.” AUTHOR’S THESIS: why the current method is not solving problems and what should be done to fix this. The thesis is placed in the middle of the article to provide a useful transition to the next idea, and to emphasize the impact of her thesis and what comes next. • “A stopgap reduction… won’t do anything to fix this. We need a whole new model for financing higher education.” (explicit thesis)

24. OVERALL STRUCTURE SECOND SHIFT: tone shift, addressing a possible answer to the problem. • “...some states are demonstrating refreshing creativity… in tackling this issue.” AUTHOR’S OPINION: after all the facts are presented, the author offers her opinion on Oregon’s method of funding. • “By and large, ‘Pay It Forward, Pay It Back’ is an idea with more promise than pitfalls.” FINAL LESSON: all US states should implement Oregon’s college funding method, because as of now, debt is huge and Congress is not finding practical ways to fix this. Also, all students should have the opportunity to go to college so that they can be successful in their careers, although they do not have the opportunity now. • “...almost half of low-income college-eligible students don’t enroll… because of the sticker shock…”

25. Australia and Britain Australia’s model has no interest for loans, and repayment is based upon current economy. The government will not let a student over-borrow in loans, preventing further debt. The United Kingdom says that loans go directly to the college, but the student only has to pay back when his salary is over 15,000 euros, and must pay 9% each month. US repayment has interest that continues to put graduates (and non-graduates) in debt

26. Discussion Questions: • How does the argument of Heuvel’s article differ from the argument of Shea’s article? • From the beginnings of history, even in Rome and colonial America, those with an education were usually given more respect and stature. Why is this? If you agree with this, why is a higher education so hard to come by? • Is Katrina’s argument persuasive enough to change the minds of lawmakers and public funding organizations? Do you agree with her point of view, and why?