US Sen: Merkley works to boost "Pay It Forward"

Carla Axtman

Senator Jeff Merkley is doing that thing he does so very well, advocating for lifting up the blue-collar and middle class folks who often fall between the cracks of the very poor and the super wealthy.

Saul Hubbard, The Register Guard (originally published August 9):

When he speaks in Eugene today, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley plans to unveil a legislative concept that could provide some federal seed money to an embryonic and radical concept designed to tackle the student debt crisis.

The “Pay It Forward” model would allow students to attend state colleges without paying any tuition up front. Instead, they would commit a small percentage of their future incomes to repaying the state over a couple of decades.

The idea drew national media attention last month after the state Legislature passed a bill to study the feasibility of such a model.

Merkley has been a consistent voice for protecting consumers and has been a watchdog on financial issues. The issue of student debt and rising costs are smack in the middle of his wheelhouse.

More:

Troy Brynelson, The Daily Emerald:

“The last thing we need to be doing,” the senator said, “is treating our students, who are struggling to get an education, as a source of additional revenues to fund other programs.”

Citing the 3.5 percent increase in tuition for Oregon’s seven public universities, and the 4.9 percent increase for UO students specifically, Merkley tackled what he considered a pattern of the state seeking income from college students.

“It’s an enormous challenge to consider the possibility that to realize the full potential of your mind you’re going to have to incur a debt the size of a home mortgage,” he said. “And make the judgment if that’s your course in life, especially if you’re not even sure there’s going to be a job on the other side.”

Keep in mind, this is simply money for a pilot project to see if this actually works. Nevertheless, the rightwing mouth-foaming was bound to happen. See also, Jayne Carroll:

Selecting the University of Oregon as a backdrop for embracing the new concept for college loans, Merkley proclaimed we must make college more affordable and ease the crushing student debt that hurts the middle class most.

However, the senator's usurped Pay it Forward proposal does nothing to address the increasingly outrageous cost of college. The procrastination plan for paying student loans only delays the day when repayment becomes due.

Pandering to students and their families by telling them you can go to college now and pay for it way down the road may be politically advantageous in the short term, but is it a serious solution to the crippling cost of college?

Do we really need another expensive government study to question the fiscal feasibility of allowing today's college students to pay for college tomorrow? Until there are an adequate number of employed former students repaying their loans, how will colleges be funded?

It's a study, Jayne. Y'know...that science-y stuff that helps us see if something works or not. Sometimes this science-y stuff also helps us work out the kinks and questions around feasibility, costs, etc. If it works, or parts of it work (or not), we're provided with good data that informs the decision making process going forward.

Carroll suggests that instead of this, we should simply audit public universities and colleges to determine why they cost so much. This would be an awesome suggestion if it wasn't already being done. Perhaps Carroll might consider using the Googles prior to penning her columns. It could save us all having to do it for her.

By Carla Axtman Aug. 19, 2013