The Man of the Year!!!

As a big proponent of higher education, I am elated to know that President Elect Barack Obama will be taking office to reform that sorry, weak, no child left behind “project” created by Mr. Bush, oh I mean President Bush. So what can we expect from President Elect Barack Obama to do for students pursuing higher education or those who never even thought they could even attain a higher education degree, once he takes office? Well first, lets start with what he states on his website:

Support College Outreach Programs: Obama and Biden support outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare for college.

This is great, I’m all for these programs as I have worked closely with two out of the three groups mentioned, and they are very beneficial to families with first generation college students. However, these programs should provide more one on one counseling and tutoring, especially in the sciences and math. Most of these students are still not competing while in college or even after graduating because of a lack of critical thinking and analytical skills which are usually developed through advanced mathematics, statistics, and logic courses. These students need to be taught how to perform quantitative and qualitative analysis while in secondary school. Teachers should be taking it upon themselves to make sure students comprehend these critical skills. Many students enter college without these skills and struggle immensely. Employers will not even consider these students for that very reason.

Support College Credit Initiatives: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will create a national “Make College A Reality” initiative that has a bold goal to increase students taking AP or college-level classes nationwide 50 percent by 2016, and will build on Obama’s bipartisan proposal in the U.S. Senate to provide grants for students seeking college level credit at community colleges if their school does not provide those resources.

This is definitely needed. Most students that are low income, first generation college students have never even heard of AP, Honors, or IB courses. Even if they have heard of them, they have no idea what they are or how to get into them. They aren’t aware how these classes can strengthen their college applications or most importantly prepare them to take college level courses. I explain more on why students should take these advanced courses in my blog, “Compete with the Best”.

Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama and Biden will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Recipients of the credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of community service.

I can’t say enough about this one. I mean, its a great way to get citizens involved in giving back and caring about this country. Its the trickle down theory that republicans have failed to create for years. You mean, if I perform community service hours and help out american citizens in need, I will actually get my tuition covered? Well i wish that was in effect when I was in College, I would have jumped all over that. One thing I’m not quite sure about from reading his very vague American Opportunity Tax credit plan is, can anyone qualify for this tax credit, including the rich?? Maybe you can help me out!!!

Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: Obama and Biden will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application.

Avoid This Happening to You Coming out of middle school (8th grade) and entering high school (9th grade), my high school counselor placed me into pre-algebra and Spanish 1, courses that I had already taken in 8th grade and passed with a “C” grade or better. But because I performed poorly on my middle school exit exams (so they say) she placed me back into pre-algebra and Spanish I. As was expected, my first semester of my freshman year I performed extremely well in those repeated classes. Luckily my step-father who’d been married to my mother for four years at the time, had gone to college, and was able to look at my report card and see the “ridiculous” classes that was assigned to me by my new high school counselor. Once he noticed these classes, he immediately requested that she place me into all college preparatory classes at the beginning of the second semester so I could prepare to attend college.

If I would have been placed in Spanish II and Algebra I it would have put me ahead in Foreign Language and right on track in math for the College Preparation Curriculum, but because I was placed in classes that did not count towards graduation in all courses including history, english, and even science, I was severely behind the rest of those planning to attend college. I had to attend two summers in summer school catching up (not that it was a bad thing). Save your self some time and head ache by staying on top of your school counselor, and letting them know going to college is important to you.