Former Vermont governor Howard Dean continued his push to energize young voters yesterday, participating in a conference call with Generation Dean supporters and members of college media to announce his plan for federal spending on higher education.
Dean continued his assault on President Bush's tax cuts and promised to revoke them to fund his $7.1 billion program, which he said would provide access to higher education to anyone who wants to go to college.
The ticket to better jobs
higher incomes and better opportunities is a college education Dean said at the beginning of the conference call.
Dean's program would provide at least $10,000 in federal financial aid to students who participate in the College Commitment program. Participation would require students to develop a plan in the eighth grade to graduate from high school and prepare for college. The government would perform preliminary financial-need assessments to determine how much aid would come through grants and how much would come in loans.
Dean's plan would also limit loan repayments for college graduates to no more than 10 percent of their income and would forgive remaining debts after 10 years of payment. Those who enter high-demand career fields - nursing, teaching, law enforcement and others - in high-need areas would have their loan repayments limited to 7 percent of their income.
The success of Dean's program is contingent on the repeal of Bush's tax cut, which would have to be approved by Congress - now controlled by Republican majorities in both houses. Dean predicted a power shift in Congress would result from his nomination, but if Republicans retain control Dean said he hoped they would see a new light and repeal the tax cuts.
Tom Mortenson, a senior scholar at the Pell Institute studying opportunity in higher education, said he supported Dean's proposal to repeal Bush's tax cut to fund this program, but he said he is skeptical of its success if Congress is still under Republican leadership next year.
A lot of these proposals are going to have a tough time if you have an opposition party controlling Congress he said.
Mortenson said he has seen the government shift support away from those who truly need federal help to go to college. Bush seems to have gotten amnesia since he became president as he has reneged on campaign promises to increase federal dollars for higher education.
And, Mortenson said, a large discrepancy exists between how much aid families receive based on income.
A student with parents who earn less than $40,000 per year have $4,000 in unmet need, while students from families earning more than $60,000 actually receive excess aid, he said.
The emerging definition of need is
'do you vote and do you complain
' he said.
Mortenson said he would like to see higher education become a national issue beyond the campaign trail.
Every state should be squirming about what's going on right now
he said.
In Ohio, a state with its fair share of higher-education and budget troubles, the surge of momentum that has led Dean to be considered the front runner in the campaign has not catapulted him to the top of the polls.
Dean received only 9 percent support in an Ohio Poll sponsored by the University of Cincinnati that was released this week. He trails Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (18 percent), Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt (14 percent) and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich (12 percent).
As the campaign moves toward Ohio's March 2 primary, poll percentages are likely to fluctuate greatly.
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Nick Juliano
