The death of former Senator Claiborne Pell on New Year's Day after a 15-year fight with Parkinson's disease symbolized the sad, slow decay of the federal college aid grant program that bears his name, as well as the increased value of education and human capital in the United States.
Created in 1965, Pell Grants are awarded to college students who come from families making less than $45,000 per year. The grants have enabled millions of individuals to overcome difficult circumstances to attend university. Yet in recent years, the federal government's commitment to the program, and others like it, has waned.
For example, while the amount of money provided has increased over the years, the value of Pell Grants has actually deteriorated over time. Twenty years ago, the maximum grants covered 60 percent of the yearly cost of higher education at a four-year public university; now they cover barely one-third.
In our increasingly global economy, in which American workers compete with those on the other side of the world and our students fall behind those from other developed countries in reading, math and science, we cannot afford to be so passive in our commitment to education and advancement. The government must put a greater emphasis on promoting scholarship and learning among U.S. citizens , not only as a matter of national pride but also in the interest of economic survival. The new year and new presidency provide the perfect moment to begin.
President-elect Barack Obama has already begun to unveil his new stimulus package designed to prop up the flailing economy in the short- and long-term. One of his major initiatives funds public works and infrastructure projects to rebuild our once-proud transportation system.
While this is certainly a necessary and important development, the growth in human infrastructure is at least as important -- if not more. We must make human capital a priority if we are to recover and grow as a nation.
The recent collapse of the American automakers represents the last wheezing cough of the old, 20th-century economy. The future exists not in the assembly-line jobs being shipped overseas, but in the new wave of knowledge-driven industries that has already begun to bring wealth and prosperity to the United States: the wave of computing and software, health care, "green" energy, etc. The transformation of our economy to the world's best for innovation and high technology requires a greater devotion to providing new educational opportunities for all.
First, we must substantially increase the budget for federal financial aid through programs such as Pell Grants and Federal Work-Study. Universities across the country have dramatically increased tuition in recent years, but few have the resources to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need. Thus, every year, thousands of deserving students are shut out of higher education.
Additionally, the government should enact new service-oriented programs to enlist the next generation in our higher learning campaign. If we are willing to pay close to $5,000 of college tuition costs for students in financial need, surely we could also give more to those who engage in a year or more of national service. Groups like AmeriCorps and City Year already provide stipends and financial assistance for community services such as teaching and tutoring in urban schools, cleaning up parks and playgrounds and providing disaster relief.
A government expansion of these programs, plus a new G.I. Bill to pay for the education of our returning soldiers, would mine America's untapped desire to serve and propel a new wave of people into higher education.
Precedent for a national campaign for educational excellence exists: in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, beating the United States to space, Americans everywhere saw the need to reexamine, and invest in, knowledge. The government passed legislation over the following decade to create radical programs, including Senator Pell's highly successful grants.
America, it is time to look around. The current economic crisis is no normal recession. Rather, it is another warning shot, 52 years after Sputnik, calling us to act before the opportunity to invest in our future through education has passed.
