(U-WIRE) BOSTON – The U.S. House of Representatives discussed a bill Wednesday that would cut financial aid at universities nationwide by more than $14 billion, and if passed, would be the largest education cut ever.

While discussing the bill, which legislators say is necessary to help the national deficit and provide compensation to victims of Hurricane Katrina, the government should realize that the United States is already the most expensive country to receive an education.

Tuition costs are drastically rising at a rate much higher than inflation, and such a bill could easily deepen the class divide on and off campuses across the country.

Such a measure would add almost $6,000 to the total debt of each college student over the next four years, according to the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, and would likely prevent many high schoolers who dreamed of attending college with few resources to do so.

Students still have the option of applying for private loans, but these loans are often harder to get and do not offer the same amount as those provided by the government.

The proposed cuts would also hinder aid-receiving college students who want to go on to graduate school and seek a professional degree.

A student was right when she said that “without an education, the future is not pretty.” Congress should consider this student’s future and the millions of others seeking financial aid to attend college before moving forward with this proposal.

It also should be the federal government’s goal to reduce the national debt, which has vastly increased since the start of the War in Iraq and the devastation caused by Katrina, but using the education budget to pay for the largest chunk of this deficit reduction is choosing the wrong path.

Staff Editorial

The Daily Free Press (Boston U.)