Rising tuition costs have made the federal government's growing role in making college tuition affordable a campaign topic in this year's presidential election.
Both President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry have proposed new programs that center on the promise of making higher education feasible for all Americans.
Both want to provide an increase in federal money to students, but disagree about the amount and the rules to qualify for the funds.
Bush favors students giving up time after graduation in exchange for aid.
Kerry favors a similar plan that would offer full scholarships to public schools and another that includes a tuition tax break for all students regardless of service after college.
Bush's plan would offer less aid while Kerry's would be more expensive for the federal government to maintain.
Tiffany Iriana, Pennsylvania Students for Bush executive director, said Bush favors programs that empower students to afford education through financial incentives. Iriana said tax breaks, educational individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and an enhanced AmeriCorps system to reward volunteers with financial aid make higher education affordable under the Bush plan.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, an educational IRA is a trust or custodial account that allows students and their families to save money for tuition with tax benefits.
Iriana said the enhanced AmeriCorps system would give members of the national volunteer agency, AmeriCorps, education awards of $4,725 per year to help pay for college or graduate school.
A student applying for a Federal Pell Grant would be eligible for an additional $1,000 in Pell Grant money if he or she completed the State Scholars program. The program sets standards above state requirements for graduation from high school.
Bush adopted a 6 percent increase in federal financial aid in the 2005 federal budget. The total amount of aid available through Pell Grants per student has increased from $3,750 to $4,050 per year since 2001.
In a bill proposed by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and voted on in 1997, Kerry voted against increasing Federal Pell Grant funding by $528 billion. Kerry also voted against educational IRAs and educational saving accounts in 1997.
Kerry has, however, voted to reduce student loan fees and to increase a tax deduction for college tuition costs.
Kerry has also been lead sponsor of 10 education bills during his time in the U.S. Senate.
Megan Green, College Democrats president, said Kerry may have voted against some education legislation due to political reasons.
"At some point when a lot of people vote against something it is because they disagree with another provision of the bill," she said. "He is in support of increasing the funding of Federal Pell Grants."
She added that the price of higher education has risen during Bush's term.
Green blames tuition increases in higher education on enrollment growth.
"More people are going to school, which is going to increase the amount of funding that universities are going to need," Green said.
Green said that today, many people are being denied a higher education due to financial constraints.
She said Kerry would provide a $4,000 per year tax credit for money spent on higher education to make it more affordable for students and their families, regardless of whether they work in a government-sponsored program.
According to the Kerry campaign Web site, www.johnkerry.com, the "College Opportunity Tax Credit," would be up to $4,000 and would be made available to students and their families for each year of college.
The Web site also said the federal government would provide increases in aid as an incentive for states to keep tuition low at state universities.
Green said Kerry would also try to pass legislation that would pay for all four years of a student's public college education in exchange for two years of service.
"Now many people are being priced out of education. That is why Kerry is proposing the $4,000 tax credit," she said. "And that is also why he supports the two years of service and four years of college education at any state university."
Iriana said Kerry's proposal to provide federally funded education to two-year volunteer workers is mere campaign rhetoric.
"He can't put it into a coherent financial plan, we have no way of approximating the costs even," she said. "Nor has there been any indication of how he would pay for it."
Don Morabito, Pennsylvania Democratic Party executive director, said in most western countries, it is much easier to finance higher education than in the United States.
He said in Pennsylvania, the price of attending college has increased by $1,500 a year since Bush came to office.
"The cost of college keeps going up; Kerry has a plan to reverse that," Morabito said.
Andy Banducci, College Repubicans chairman, said conservatives do not think it is the role of the federal government to pay for higher education, but added that the government should help students and their families make it affordable.
"John Kerry has a long record of not being in favor of individual liberty in terms of people having control of their personal bank accounts," Banducci said.
Both Banducci and Iriana criticize what they said is a liberal Kerry voting record, and said he does not trust Americans with their own money.
The two said Kerry favors state and federal funding of education, whereas Bush would allow more options.
"Senator Kerry is a classic liberal who believes that money is better spent in the hands of the government than in the hands of American citizens," Iriana said. "Any program that empowers students and parents to provide for their own education is going to be opposed by a liberal who tries to keep his hands on the tax payer's money."
Kerry's Web site said, on average, state college and university tuition fees have risen by 28 percent. Tuition has risen from an average of $3,487 in 2000-2001 to $4,694 in 2003-2004.
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