The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Things have certainly changed since I was a freshman at the University of Texas in 1952. I stayed at a boarding house which charged me $55.00 a month for room and board, tuition was $25.00 a semester and a student could purchase what was called a “blanket tax” which gave free admission to all athletic events, concerts, lectures and every other curricular activity at the University.

Currently, there is much to do about how college graduates are suffering because of having to repay huge government loans incurred to help complete their college education.

There are good arguments on both sides of the argument as to whether or not taxpayers should bear the burden of forgiving these loans. One side points out that to do so would be unfair to those who struggle to pay their own tuition and those who went to school with the help of a government loan program. The other side argues that having more citizens with a college education is ultimately beneficial to our entire country.

I have recently heard, however, of a good idea which could solve the problem. The plan would allow persons who have a large student loan to repay the government via government service. The loan could be repaid by a year’s service in the military or some other organization such as the Peace Corps. Many experts on higher education contend that most high school graduates are not really ready for the challenges of a university program and that a year’s service to the country would be beneficial not only to the country, but to the students. Unfortunately, it seems that all our congressmen are too busy fighting with one another to come up with innovative ideas such as this.