James Donohue
Professor Hochfelder
AHIS 201
2/22/20
Title:U.S.C offers free tuition to students whose families make $80,000 or less
Date:2/20/20
URL:https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/us/usc-free-tuition.html?searchResultPosition=1
Brief Description: U.S.C, one of the prominent colleges in Southern California, has announced that it will eliminate tuition for students whose family makes less than $80,000. Tuition at U.S.C is about $57,000 with total costs going up to about $77,500. Other universities like Harvard and Stanford offer similar benefits but for students whose families make up to $150,000 nearly double what U.S.C. offers. This move comes as U.S.C. deals with the college admissions scandal known as the "Varsity Blues" scandal.
Keywords: College, Tuition
Future Implications: This program would as intended, increase the number of students who are from lower socioeconomic classes and enable them to get a good education at an elite institution like U.S.C. This program would also be beneficial to minority students who would be attending school with a majority white population(29%). With 42 million borrowers in the U.S. owing $1.5 trillion in student debt, a plan like this would be beneficial to those worried about going further and further into debt. It is also possible more and more colleges will adopt similar programs to alleviate the financial strains of college.
Impact(0-5):2
Plausibility(0-5):5
Novelty(0-5):4
Timeliness(0-5):5

Title: Trump education budget plan slashes student loan program in contrast to Democrats
Date: 2/10/20
URL:https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trump-education-plan-slashes-student-loan-program-in-contrast-to-democrats/2020/02/10/1d64e8fa-4c3f-11ea-b721-9f4cdc90bc1c_story.html
Brief Description: President Trump's most recent budget proposal included cuts to student loan programs and tax breaks for private school tuition. Trump promised that he and his administration would craft a plan to fight student debt but have not yet proposed such an alternative to the Democrats' plans. Overall, the newest budget proposal from the Trump Administration cuts the Education Department's funding by 4.8%. The Trump Administration has also proposed expanding pell grants to people in prison who are pursuing their college degrees.
Keywords: College, Tuition, Trump
Future Implications: President Trump is not only the current president of the United States but he is currently also running for re-election for a second term in office. So his ability to affect the budget of the education department could expand the next four years beyond this one. If that is so that won't be good for the education department because constantly slashing their budget will not be helpful for students who are drowning in debt and rely on government aid to stay afloat. It is also worrying that President Trump doesn't have any plans to fight student debt considering his administration and the executive branch is most capable of fighting the student debt/college affordability crisis. However, it should be noted that the plan to expand pell grants to prisoners could be a good one because it may allow prisoners to have better job prospects after leaving prison and re-entering society which would  potentially prevent them from going back to prison again.
Impact:(0-5):5
Novelty(0-5):5
Timeliness(0-5):5


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