Bring Back the GI Bill (for a start)

One of the most emotionally discussed topics these days is education. As I can smell "60" from where I sit right now, it has become crystal clear to me how much education has changed since I was in K-12 and then college. However, for the purpose of this posting, I will discuss only post high school education.

This topic came to me this morning as I read the paper about this young man who had racked up $350,000 worth of student debt while going after his undergrad and law degree. While this case was an anomaly, it once again brought back the clarion call for clear thinking change on how we educate our young people to be globally productive without impoverishing them.

When I got out of the service in 1973, I went to school under the GI Bill (from the GI Bill of Rights). This is not to be confused with the watered down version known as the Montgomery GI Bill which was introduced after the original GI Bill "sunsetted". Under the GI Bill that I went to school under, the rules were very simple: 1.) had to be a full time student (minimum of 12 credits per year) 2.) had to show progress towards a degree and 3.) had a total of 60 months worth of benefits to use in a 10 years after discharge time period. It was a great deal. I got married while finishing my degree and the Bill even allowed for additional money for married students. I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1975 without going into private debt and not taking out any student loans.

To really give kids a jump start today, lets consider the following:

• Have some kind of mandatory national service for all youth. This mandatory service could be serving in the Armed Forces, Americorps or the Peace Corp. In return for a minimum of three years of national service, the individual would be entitled to 60 months of free tuition (based on state college rates).
• Private colleges are outrageous these days. It is easy to spend $30,000/year (and up) to attend a school which will give the same result as a state university upon graduation.
• Most should consider doing the first two years at a local community college. As most colleges have commonality of credits these days, it is much cheaper and the end result will be the same once transfer occurs to a four year school in the junior year.
• Offer more lower division on line classes which are greatly reduced in cost. If the point is to learn, it should not matter when the learning occurs.

These are just some ideas to start with. We need to teach our young people facts and not feelings. We need to offer hills as obstacles and not mountains of debt. Failure to come up with real solutions to this problem will result in us watching the rest of the world pass us by. We do not have an inherited right for our life style - it was earned by our forefathers by thinking outside of the box. We can no longer rest on our laurels.