Do you know how much debt you will be in when you graduate? Do you know how much of what you will ultimately pay for your student loan will go towards education and how much will end up lining the pockets of financial institutions that contribute nothing to education? Higher education is the fundamental bedrock of American society. Education drives our ability to innovate, and is directly correlated to our future as a prosperous, successful nation. Education is the pathway for immigrants to find success and contributes to students becoming upstanding citizens and life-long taxpayers and learners.
With the cost of a college education becoming increasingly unaffordable, we propose a NO CUTS, NO COMPROMISE petition to all 50 Governors to urge them to commit to refrain from making ANY cuts to education in their state budgets this year. We ALL have the right to an affordable, high quality education and ask that our Governors consider their priorities by upholding these rights.
The average cost of college has gone up by over 66% over the last 20 years(http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76) while administrator salaries have risen considerably. At Ohio State University, President E. Gordon Gee is the top-earning public college President in the nation, bringing in over 1.8 million dollars per year. (http://chronicle.com/article/Presidents-Defend-Their-Pay-as/126971/)
At the same time, it has become harder for graduates to find well paying jobs. In fact, recent graduates have seen a 10% decrease in their income since 2006, according to the New York Times. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html)
It is time that we stand together and protect higher education in America. Let's stop burdening our youth with over $20,000 in student loans by the time they graduate. We believe that everyone should have the right to an affordable, quality education without fear of financial ruin. Education for the 99% should NOT be dictated by the financial gains of the 1%.
We ask all America's Governors to make No Cuts to Education, in their state budgets.
@amvmizz
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2012-02-29 11:41:02 -0800
@Brandondacus
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2012-02-29 11:34:10 -0800
@KrystieLYandoli
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2012-02-29 11:31:40 -0800
@OccupyColleges
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2012-02-29 11:30:57 -0800
@darealmaozedong
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2012-02-29 10:57:25 -0800
Donald Myers signed
2012-02-29 10:54:48 -0800
The thing is, every benefit that education provides in this country contributes to improving our cultural standards, our standards of what we want our work force to be like, and our standing in the world where we can actually compete with other countries in areas of science, engineering, the arts, and other important facets of our collective culture of innovation.
Big name companies like Google, Sony, Microsoft and other drivers of innovation in technology don’t just look for workers in one field of expertise and stop at that, they look for talented individuals in various fields who can benefit their companies. That even includes art and design. How can these companies find any good talent if people who do possess it are not given the chance to explore their fields of interest? That is what colleges do provide, and not every form of higher education should just be vocational training or other work programs designed to get people into one specific field, although those should still be options for people who want to take them.
Sandy Cornell signed
2012-02-29 10:52:08 -0800
@TimDMack
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2012-02-29 10:49:51 -0800
@pastudentsvoice
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2012-02-29 10:49:40 -0800
@OccupyColleges
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2012-02-29 10:47:22 -0800
Susan Robin signed
2012-02-28 23:19:26 -0800
My husband and I owe $66,000 in parent loans on our daughter’s college education at a private art college. She is switching to a CUNY College, which costs much less, but we still owe the money! That is way too much money for a college education!
No more cuts!
@OccupyHCC
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2012-02-28 20:58:48 -0800
@davidianrobin
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2012-02-28 19:42:09 -0800
