Anyone see Snow stumble about to Paula (Zahn's?) question?

[requiem99]

She asked about education/poor/military connection, cited sources, etc. Snow said "The president has increased funding for pell grants. The president believes in this stuff. Can we move on, next question?" Thats almost a direct quote. He didn't even talk about what she asked. Not even remotely.

[gkhouston]

1. that's not even true about the Pell grants or if true, it's misleading.

NPR did a story on that a couple of months back. It could be that the overall dollar amount for the Pell grant program is going up but the size of award per student compared to the cost of college is definitely going down.

[requiem99]

2. My tuition has risen 50 percent every semester for 3 straight semesters.

But my Pell Grant has stayed the same (and no, its not nearly enough to cover school).

[dflprincess]

3. Paula Zahn asked a real question?

That alone should make headlines.

[applegrove]

4. Good for her. Remember the people who signed up for Iraq to

get health care for family? The truck driver. Some of the kids. It is true that the grunts are most often at a loss of where to work or go to school when they sign up. Of course the leadership of the forces goes to school to be officers. And some of the younger ones sign up to travel and make enough money to support their young families. And with hopes of school in the future.

[blm]

6. That floored me, too. So maybe this issue WILL benefit from misinterpretation

It usually is NEVER discussed.

[applegrove]

5. College Aid Cutbacks (Pell Grants) - NYTimes Editorial

College Aid Cutbacks
NYTimes Editorial
Published: November 1, 2006

"Pell Grants are one of the largest sources of federal help for low-income college students, and the most valuable form of aid, because the money doesn’t have to be paid back. But the level of aid is increasingly out of sync with the level of need.

Last week, the College Board reported that Pell Grants fell last year, for the first time in six years. The cuts were about $100 a year per recipient, on average, and came on top of other miserliness. It’s been four years since Congress last increased the maximum annual Pell Grant — by a mere $50 — bringing the top grant for a student who has no parental support to $4,050. Meanwhile, college costs are up 35 percent from five years ago. Tuition and fees at a typical four-year public university are closing in on $6,000 this year.

The recent cutbacks were set in motion in 2004, when the Department of Education reduced the number of students deemed eligible for Pell Grants and the amounts they were qualified to receive. Pell Grants now cover about a third of the average costs at a four-year public school, compared with 42 percent five years ago.

Government loans also have not kept pace with rising costs. Subsidized loans accounted for only 55 percent of student borrowing in the most recent academic year, down from 69 percent 10 years earlier.

............SNIP"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/opinion/01wed2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

[blm]

7. As far as the issue is concerned, the whole misinterpretation gave it LEGS

it didn't have before.