Post #15 Final Abstract, Bibliography, and Link to Your Paper

Abstract:

   With the rising costs of tuition at institutes of higher education, the average student looks towards the federal government for help. After many years of legislation and passed bills only students who have formerly served in the military seem to have receive the most benefits. Are students who have formerly served in the military receiving special benefits from the federal government, or are veterans earning their education as another lieu of payment? Veterans who use their GI Bill are they receiving fair compensation or are they being set up to be targeted by for profit institutions? What makes it possible for the common person to support free education for GI's while the average student deals with loans and debt?

Complete Bibliography:

Anderson, Benedict. "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Revised Edition Paperback – November 17, 2006." Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Revised Edition: Benedict Anderson: 9781844670864: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

Education and Training." Post-9/11 GI Bill -. VA, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.

Jacobs, W. E., and Maureen McMahon. "Counterpoint: Free College Education Is Poorly Matched With The Needs Of The Students Or The Economy." Points Of View: Free College Tuition (2014): 3. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.

McGrevey, Michael, et al. "Chapter 15. 1987-Present Effect Of The Montgomery GI Bill: Creating A Recruiting And Educational Incentive." Across the Aisle : The Seven-Year Journey of the Historic Montgomery GI Bill. 154. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2011. Project MUSE. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

Mettler, Suzanne. Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Moon, Tracey L., and Geraldine A. Schma. 2011. A proactive approach to
serving military and veteran students. New Directions for Higher Education, no.
153. Wiley Online Library. Accessed May 10, 2012.

"Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs." VA and the Post 9/11 GI Bill -. US Department of Veteran Affairs, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

Reed, Adolph Jr. "A GI Bill For Everybody." Dissent (00123846) 48.4 (2001): 53-58. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

STRACH, PATRICIA. "Making Higher Education Affordable: Policy Design In Postwar America." Journal Of Policy History 21.1 (2009): 61-88. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=44122934&site=eds-live

U.S Department of Education "Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2012; Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2012; Graduation  Rates, Selected Cohorts, 2004-09; and Employees in Postsecondary Institutions". Fall 2012. Web. Nov 17. 2014

U.S Department of Education: Budget http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013183.pdf.

Vacchi, David. "Considering Student Veterans on the Twenty-first-century College Campus." About Campus, 18 June 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/abc.21075/citedby.

 Vacchi, David T., and Joseph B. Berger. "Student Veterans In Higher Education." Higher Education: Handbook Of Theory & Research: Volume 29 (2014): 93. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

 

"VA Budget Report." (n.d.): n. pag. Budget Report. Web. http://www.va.gov/budget/docs/summary/Fy2015-VolumeI-Summary.pdf.

 

Interview

For my interview, I interviewed Michael Gross, he is a friend of mine studying at the University of Colorado Boulder. I chose to interview my friend since he is a veteran.

Question 1: Do you feel as if the GI Bill is a perk for your service or that you actually earned it.
A: "Well I feel more that we actually earned it, not that we're just given special treatment"

Question 2: Why is that?
A: "Most high school students go on to continue their education after school and attend college at the age of 18, most people like me wont start their education until were 22, 23. So while most kids my age were out partying and enjoying life I was stuck on base or in a country far away from home."

Question 3: What do you think of the situation for regular students trying to pay for college?
A: "Its a bit harder to see things from their perspective due to my circumstance, but it definitely looks bad if you follow the facts about how much loans are being taken out and is currently owned".

Question 4: Do you think there should be any program to aid regular students?
A: "While I believe there should be someway to helping them, it shouldn't be completely free. If it was completely free it would probably affect the economy due to higher taxes.

Question 5: What is the big difference between veteran students and regular students?
A: "The only difference is experience, we lived our lives a bit longer than most students and have seen things most people never will. We learned valuable lessons that can only be taught in the army. The average student begins to shape his life in school while we shaped ours in the army.

Question 6: Besides for being different from your previous answer, do you believe that people view soldiers on a more positive note than the regular citizen?
A: "Yes and no, there will always be people who dislike the military and believe us to be evil. At the same time there will be people who see us as hero's. The average sees us a good person doing what's right for our country, I guess the reason why people tend to treat us better is that by looking at us they see a soldier who they associate as someone who is a hero. When they look at a regular citizen, they see another person, so yes we probably are looked at as more positive people.

Literature Review #5

Jacobs, W. E., McMahon wrote a thesis called
Counterpoint: Free College Education is Poorly Matched with the Needs of the Students or the Economy. In it he brings up counter points to why free education would be beneficial. With a mixture of our economy and a large drop out rate for current college students, Jacobs argues that free tuition does not benefit us. 

This paper is helped used in my paper in the counter argument. I state that the government aids only soldiers. This article helps bring up facts that the GI Bill is from federal government and taxpayers would not be penalized if the government falls short on spending. Public education though would be another burden that falls on taxpayers.

"In making the case for free college education, many people are arguing that the GI Bill has been successful and should be replicated for the general public. However, the GI Bill uses federal funds to offset the tuition of college for military personnel; taxpayers are not required to fill in gaps where the government falls short (Page 1)." By understanding the differences between the GI Bill and what free tuition would be we must realize that free tuition would affect an already over burdened population of tax payers who are living from pay check to pay check.

"The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education notes that investing in higher education for high school graduates can improve a state's economy: people with degrees get higher paying jobs, can spend more money, and can increase tax revenues. That would be a possible argument if the same Center didn't also cite that "less than 50 percent of first-time, full-time college students complete an associate's degree within three years or a bachelor's degree within six years" ( Page 1)." Currently it is mandatory for everyone to receive an education up to grade 12. After grade 12 when the average student turns 18, they become adults and have the ability to chose for themselves. With this many students who are new to college don't succeed and there is no system to catch them from failing. For most kids in high school there is a system to enable those to succeed. If we were to set free tuition for everyone we must realize that we will even be paying for those that don't finish their degrees.

"However, tuition is only about half the cost of a college education for most people. When room and board are factored in, as it is in the cost of the University of California, for example, even without tuition, students are still paying over $8,000 per year (page 1)". While the fight for education is what the common student is fighting for there are more bills that need to be paid. For some colleges the bill of living in the community is equal and even greater than free tuition. Although lowering tuition will ease the burden for students, in most cases they will still need to take out loans or find a job for living expenses.

The free education that we are fighting for isn't equal to the GI Bill. GI's receive free tuition, money for their living expenses and books. The free education that we are fighting for would only allow free tuition. Clearly there is a large divide between the common student and GI's, and we are not even setting our selves to be looked as equals to them on terms of education.

Works Cited

Jacobs, W. E., and Maureen McMahon. "Counterpoint: Free College Education Is Poorly Matched With The Needs Of The Students Or The Economy." Points Of View: Free College Tuition (2014): 3. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.

Literature Review #4

Access, Equity, and Community

Colleges: The Truman Commission and Federal Higher Education Policy from 1947 to 2011
by Claire Krendl Gilbert and
Donald E. Heller
 
 
 
 
This article that I found online discusses U.S policy on education from 1947 until 2011. It goes over the several policies that were enacted over this time to help send the general population to college and universities. It also goes on to talk about the different demographics that attended universities during this period.


The commission that was created to help bring education to all demographics was aimed not at one particular group but for every student in the United States. It was also a very controversial topic when it was initially brought up. "The Commission’s recommendations on expanding access by eliminating financial, race, sex, and religious barriers were extremely controversial for years after the publication of the report within the higher education community (page 12)". The fact that it was controversial to help all these demographics achieving a free or cheap higher education shows how reluctant the government is at helping the whole population as a whole.
 This article talks about the various ways how the government decided to go about encouraging all demographics to attend higher education. While the commission in this article noticed the raising prices of tuition, they only helped by allowing easier access to loans, which they didn't think would actually aid students. "This certainly meets the Commission’s desire for a vastly expanded federal involvement in higher education, especially in providing financial support to students. However, the increasing emphasis on loans is probably not what the Commission would have wanted, given its belief that an increase in loan aid would not serve to actually provide opportunity for students (page 11)." This quote goes to show that the commission realized that loans would help students pay for education but would ultimately hurt them afterwards.

Other methods that the commission initially sought to make education equal for all was creating a set of public schools that would be the equivalent of the first two years of college education. These public institutions now known as community colleges were thought of being funded by the local government and not the federal government, but would create free higher tuition education for all demographics.

"In other words, the Commission expected that public community colleges would be as free and accessible to students as other parts of the K–12 school system. However, in the Commission’s conception of funding structures for the two-year colleges, this free tuition would be accomplished not through federal support but through financing by local communities with supplemental aid provided by the state (page 15)".

 
This article helps my case for my project, as it helps show that the government is able to notice the issues that are affecting its citizens. It goes on to show that while it does realize are issues it isn't able to achieve or push through legislation that will help solve some of the major issues.  Gilbert, Claire Krendl, and Donald E. Heller. "Access, Equity, And Community Colleges: The Truman Commission And Federal Higher Education Policy From 1947 To 2011." Journal Of Higher Education 84.3 (2013): 417-443. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.

Blog #9 Counter Argument

My argument for my project is that if U.S Government is willing to pay to send veterans to university they should then be able to pay to send everyone to university. Veterans are clearly a favored group in the eyes of the government, while the rest of the population is ignored. I prove this by showing the amount of money being put into educating a veteran against the amount of money being put into educating a regular student.

To add onto my argument I show that veterans are a not like other social groups that are made up in the United States. Anyone from any demographic can join the army and be included in this group of veterans, but other demographics are secluded into their own group which is why there is a reluctance to helping the general population.

My counter argument is simply that veterans aren't any different then anyone of us. The benefits that are included to veterans like the GI Bill, life insurance and housing aid is a benefit to their employment. To become eligible for the GI Bill veterans need to pay a stipend for the first year of their paycheck just to become eligible for GI Bill benefits. On top of receiving aid for various programs, that base pay of U.S soldier serving for more than four years can be calculated as being lower than the federal minimum wage.
On top of being under paid and receiving benefits from their employment, there are still large amounts of problems towards benefits for veterans. Most veterans don't receive their GI Bill tuition on time causing problems between them and their university. GI Bill benefits are also being slashed as the government attempts to cut federal spending.

The two sides of the arguments can clearly be seen as one side argues that veterans are a group that is favored and given the most help, which can be seen through the various benefits that veterans receive. The other side is that veterans are like everyone else, they have their own issues and the benefits that we see is another benefit from their employment.

Vacchi, David. "Considering Student Veterans on the Twenty-first-century College Campus." About Campus, 18 June 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/abc.21075/citedby.

Anderson, Benedict. "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Revised Edition Paperback – November 17, 2006." Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Revised Edition: Benedict Anderson: 9781844670864: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.

http://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money/basic-pay-active-duty-soldiers.html

Blog #7 Your Case

My case for my overall project is that the idea of free tuition for public college and universities is an actual possibility that can be seen from my past examples. My final proposal that the government is not doing enough for the general population as it is for its veteran population can be clearly defined by my case. I have shown in my past blog posts that veterans attending universities are given full support from the government when it comes to paying for tuition, books, and living expenses. I am trying to prove that the same can be done for the general student population even if the government would only cover the cost of tuition.

The research I have done shows the total amount of money being collected by public college and universities and compares that to the amount of money being spent on veterans for their free education. From looking at the tables that I've posted and other sources from my past blogs, its begins to become more clear that the government only focuses on a special part of its population which is the veteran population.

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013183.pdf - Graph that shows the total revenue collected by college tuition
http://www.va.gov/budget/docs/summary/Fy2015-VolumeI-Summary.pdf - Page 185 under education shows how much the VA budget goes towards the GI Bill

Research Blog #6 Visual

The table that I uploaded to visually represent the case of my blog is the total cost of tuition that is paid by the average student per year. This table was found from the U.S Department of Education website (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013183.pdf). The revenue that is collected by public colleges and universities is a total of $61 billion a year. Although this does seem like a rather large figure, it pales in comparison to other programs that is currently being run by the federal government.

The total figure that the government is currently throwing towards education with Pell Grants and other programs would negate from the total $61 billion bringing it down to $48 billion a year.

This table helps in my project as it shows that clearly free tuition for everyone is feasible, but the government still only focuses on free tuition for military veterans.

U.S Department of Education "Enrollment in Postsecondary
Institutions, Fall 2012; Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2012; Graduation  Rates, Selected Cohorts, 2004-09; and Employees in Postsecondary Institutions". Fall 2012. Web. Nov 17. 2014