An excerpt from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States:
By The Associated Press
On college aid:
Recent developments at public colleges and universities leave little doubt that there is a need for the major overhaul of college aid programs approved by the U.S. House of Representatives . ...
So it was gratifying to find a bit of good news among all of higher education's low notes when the House passed the biggest overhaul of college aid programs since their inception in the 1960s.
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The bill removes private lenders from the student loan business, which will save an estimated $47 billion to $87 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It boosts Pell Grants and creates additional grant programs to improve community colleges and college graduation rates.
The measure faces a less certain future in the Senate, but its primary compromise -- a shift away from President Barack Obama's call for making Pell Grants an entitlement program much like Social Security and Medicare -- should help quell some of the concern over its impact on federal spending.
Americans could do a lot worse than to get behind a shift in national priorities that places a higher value on higher education. The United States can't perform on the global economic stage unless it competes with the rest of the world in its commitment to learning.
-- The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
