The University remains in a position of uncertainty in regards to future federal financial aid as a result of President Obama’s new proposal to reform the cost of higher education.
In a speech at the University of Michigan last week, President Obama outlined a plan, which was briefly addressed in his State of the Union speech, to tie rising college and university net tuition costs to federal campus-based financial aid.
By putting colleges on notice, the President plans to lower financial aid — such as federal work-study opportunities, supplemental education opportunity grants and the Perkins Loan Program — to colleges and universities who fail to keep net tuition costs down.@@you have got to be kidding. just give the money with the purpose of making tuition low.@@ The Pell Grant would not be included in the President’s package of campus-based aid.
While penalizing colleges and universities with persistent increases of net tuition costs, the President also aims to increase funding for campus-based aid programs by about $10 billion, rewarding colleges and universities who meet reasonable net tuition standards.@@so why penalize to begin with? douche@@
In recent years, states have reduced funding to higher education tremendously, prompting colleges and universities to raise costs of tuition. Last year, the Oregon University System saw an 11 percent cut in state funding.
For the University, which receives 6 percent of its overall budget from taxpayers, the urge to raise tuition persists, regardless of the amount of state funding.  Last year, the University saw an increase of $168 per term for in-state students and $492 per term for out-of-state students and despite pursuing private funds and increasing grant opportunities, overall net tuition (which is now at about $6,000 for in-state students and about $27,000 for out-of-state students) continues to rise.  @@http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/02/record_enrollments_give_oregon.html@@
Officials from the University seem undaunted by Obama’s new plan for higher education financial reform.@@of course@@
“As long as we keep our net price reasonable, we won’t have a problem,”@@of course you won’t@@ Director of Financial Aid Jim Brooks@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Jim+Brooks@@ said. “My thought is that we are not in danger of big cuts, but it’s not clear what Obama considers ‘reasonable’ net tuition.”
Currently, Obama’s plan remains vague at best. Little information has been revealed on how the plan would determine which schools have a high net tuition and at what level their financial aid would be reduced.
Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Roger Thompson@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Roger+Thompson@@ remained optimistic for the University’s standings despite the ambiguity of the new proposal.
“I think the challenge is that we haven’t seen all the details of the proposition,” he said. “Overall, we do a great job of educating and graduating students in a timely manner at a price point that is a great return on (one’s) investment.”@@who’s investment?@@