On July 15, members of the Washington Dream Act Coalition held a press conference at El Centro de la Raza to raise awareness about the piece of federal legislation called the DREAM act.

The Washington Dream Act Coalition is a statewide student activist group that formed several months ago in support for comprehensive immigration reform and the Dream Act.

The Dream Act is a piece of bipartisan legislation that will provide immigrants without legal citizenship the chance to become permanent residents.  A person would  be granted a six year temporary residency, in which time they must complete two years  in a program for an associate degree or higher, or serve for two years in the military to receive permanent citizenship.

Through the 1982 Supreme Court Case, Plyler v Doe, Elementary and Secondary education is guaranteed to undocumented children brought to the US by their parents. However, this ruling fails to address what will become of these youth after high school.  Approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school each year without being able to continue their education or receive the same treatment as permanent residents. Only a small fraction of youth continues on to receive a degree or even gain regular employment.

If the Dream Act were to pass, undocumented youth would be entitled to the same benefits at permanent citizens when applying for colleges or higher institutions of learning.  These young people have lived in America all their lives and were brought to America at a very young age. They had no say in what happened to them but through this legislation, could finally have a voice of their own.

Carlos Padilla, one of the fifty five founders of the Washington Dream Act Coalition alongside Alonso Chehade, Carlos Ganz, Tania Santiago and Vivi Perez will be lobbying in Washington D.C.  on July 20, 2010 gathering more than 400 students to the capital.

How can you help?

You can visit their website to join the coalition and become a dream activist!

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We’ve all seen the ads, DeVry University, University of Phoenix, ITT Technical Institute… the list goes on and on. We know these schools are unique and different from a traditional 4 year university—many offer classes online, are shorter in duration and promise to help place you in your field of work after graduation. They benefit a growing population of low-income and working individuals who require the offered flexibility to further their education.

What also sets these universities a part from traditional colleges and universities is that they make a profit. All other schools, public or private, 2-year schools or 4-year schools, are non-profit organizations.

Recently, for-profit universities have come under heavy scrutiny from congress for abusing federal student aid funding. About 75% of for-profits’ school revenue comes from federal grants and loans.

What we’re seeing in the national trends among college-goers is a little alarming. Roughly 10% of people attending an institute of higher education go to for-profit colleges like DeVry. However, that 10% utilize 24% of the federal student aid. This 24% amounts to something close to $26 billion of tax payers monies that are going into the pockets of for-profit university entrepreneurs.

Frontline recently did a segment called College Inc. that interviewed “education entrepreneurs” to learn more about the world of for-profit education. It raises flags about universities’ recruitment tactics, the price of degrees and the promise of work after college.

If you are considering some form of post-secondary education, its worth your while to watch the Frontline segment! We’ll also be following and posting what congress has to say about the future of profit-generating universities so stay tuned.

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I’ll admit, for a minute there last Sunday, March 21^st I was glued to CSPAN. It was the health care debate (and I’m using the word “debate” liberally—it was more like a verbal joust, with dems and reps haranguing insults at one another and the speaker having to cut pretty much everyone off).

The last time I was glued to CSPAN, David Banner and Master P were testifying to congress about stereotypes in hip hop. I wouldn’t make that up.

While nothing entirely tangible came from Mr. Banner’s and Mr. P’s testimonies, we got something awesome out of this more recent debate. You guessed it, a more comprehensive health care plan!

And little known to students everywhere—SAFRA was tucked away all nice and warm in the recent passage of this historic health care reform.

Education Week writes a fantastic wrap-up of everything the House vote approved last Sunday, but here are the basics:

“The bill rewrites a four-decades-old student loan program, eliminating its reliance on private lenders and uses the savings to direct $36 billion in new spending to Pell Grants for students in financial need.

… the bill would also provide more than $4 billion to historically black colleges and community colleges.

‘By moving to the federal government’s direct loan program, we will put the best interests of students first and make college loans more reliable and affordable,’ said Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, the chairman of a House higher education subcommittee.”

This week the Senate will vote to approve this same bill, but because it has been fast-tracked with health care, will only need 51 votes to be approved.

Looks like lower interest rates for student loans is on the horizon! Well done, Washington D.C.

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State lawmakers are considering budget cuts that will impact thousands of college and university students across the state. LEV, the Washington Student Association and the Washington Bus are working together to urge parents and students to contact their legislators.

Watch the video of two UW students, Ashwaq and Colette, as they share their struggles with college affordability and then contact your lawmakers to urge them to protect funding for higher education. Please tell them how you, your friends, your kids and your relatives rely on Washington’s State Need Grants and/or Work Study programs in order to attend and complete college.

You may have heard that tomorrow is a national day of action on college campuses across the country. Look for rallies on the UW, Western Washington, Evergreen State College, and Seattle Community college campuses!

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It’s March 2^nd. There are 10 days left in Washington’s 2010 legislative session. Guess what that means? It’s CRUNCH TIME, still. Just like yesterday. This week in Oly, legislators are tackling some big issues related to our state’s budget deficit (refresher, we’re 2.8 billion dollars in the hole). Plenty of programs have been proposed for cuts—and too many of these programs hurt the pockets of students.

One (of several) programs that are at-risk this session is Work Study. These are part-time jobs for students on campus which help the university fill necessary positions, help the student earn some extra cash, and help our economy by graduating students with real work experience.

Governor Gregoire has proposed to cut Washington’s ENTIRE work study program. Both the Senate and House have proposed to cut this vital program by at least $7.4 million dollars.

Here’s why Washington can’t afford to cut work study:

Work study programs provide part-time jobs to 9,400 students across the state, at 55 different campuses

For these 9,400 students, their annual earnings make up about 15% of their average financial aid package.

Work study jobs, on average, help fund $3,000-4,000 dollars of tuition per student, per year.

Can you imagine what it would take to make up for that missing money? If you think Work Study is as vital a program as we do, e-mail your legislators today and tell them to FULLY FUND Washington’s Work Study program. Let’s see some new revenue, too!

Speaker of the House:

Frank Chopp: chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov

Senate Ways and Means Committee Leadership (who delegate the ca$h)

Margarita Prentice: prentice.margarita@leg.wa.gov

Rodney Tom: tom.rodney@leg.wa.gov

Karen Fraser: fraser.karen@leg.wa.gov

House Ways and Means Committee Leadership

Kelli Linville: linville.kelli@leg.wa.gov

Mark Ericks: ericks.mark@leg.wa.gov

Pat Sullivan: sullivan.pat@leg.wa.gov

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If you missed this opinion editorial last Friday in the Tacoma News Tribune by President Ronald Thomas (University of Puget Sound) and President Loren Anderson (Pacific Lutheran University), check it out now!

Included in this piece is the answer to why Washington, even though we’re facing a 2.6 billion dollar deficit this session, can’t afford to cut need-based grants and work study programs.

Wait a second—everybody out there—I’m pretty sure young people have been saying this since day one? Shout out to university presidents for having our back!

What makes this opinion piece so compelling is that it frames this discussion of college affordability as an issue that impacts everyone, “What our legislators decide will affect not only these students, but ultimately the future prosperity of our state. It will affect us all.”

Presidents Thomas and Anderson also opted for a timeless sports metaphor in describing how state work-study programs benefit all of society, by naming the program “a true triple play.” It helps students make some extra income, it helps universities by filling necessary positions, and it benefits local businesses because students graduate with a lil something on their resume (making them more employable). Heck yes.

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1) Obama stated his commitment to making community colleges across the country more affordable

2) the Bus held Olympia in a Can (part 1 of 3)!

The first three weeks of the legislative session have been a whirlwind of topics: the budget, pre-kindergarten, the budget, race to the top, umm the budget, new revenue sources, and did I mention that people are concerned about Washington’s budget? Not so much a ‘whirlwind of topics’ … maybe more of a black hole, actually.

Amidst the furor over our 2.6 billion dollar deficit, Washington students must know one thing.  State need-grants and work study money for two and four year students are on the chopping block.

This was the hot topic last night at Grey Gallery and Lounge, where over 100 young people convened with the Bus, LEV, WSA, and UAW Local 4121 to hear and discuss how this session will affect campuses across Washington.

A few, key facts:

Washington State has over 83,000 college students receiving some form of need-based grant or work study money.

83,000 is more than a sold out Seahawks game at Qwest Field and roughly 2/3rds of all students across the state!

Cutting the state-need grant would entirely eliminate funding for 12,300 students and reduce (by more than half) the awards for 57,000 other students.

Nobody likes the idea of students taking out private loans to pay for their education-except the banks.

Check out Washington Student Association’s calendar for days of action in February and stay posted to League of Education Voters’ student Facebook page for updates on how young people can stay involved in this year’s legislative session.

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Look no further. Friends at the Washington Bus are hosting tonight! It’s called ‘Olympia in a Can‘ and yes, there will be Obama. There will be Olympia in a can. There will be legislators’ faces projected on the wall. There will be a rich and lively discussion on Washington’s budget, financial aide cuts for college students, new revenue, and how it all effects STUDENTS.

Don’t miss it!

6-8pm at Grey Gallery and Lounge 1512 11th Ave

for more details, check out hella.bus.

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The title says it all… What will universities and community colleges across Washington do to cope with this session’s ominous budget cuts? A recent poll of UWers suggests some interesting student perspectives on the issue.

Primarily, UW students do not want the quality of their education to decrease given our State’s budget deficit. The survey results beg the question, “Are students willing to pay more tuition to maintain their current level of excellence?” and when you put it that way, then yes, it appears as though they are.

With Washington facing a 2.6 billion dollar deficit, we’re going to see some cuts to higher ed. In fact, it would appear inevitable. But does that have to mean higher tuition? It seems like UW students have a few of their own suggestions about where that money should come from. For the full report, check it out on Publicola.

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Looks like we have a confirmation that Rep. Derek Kilmer will present legislation this session proposing 4-year institutions get the O-K to raise tuition…

Read the full article here at Seattle Times.

Currently, the state legislators set our public institutions’ tuition cap. This legislation would hand that control over to state universities and community colleges to set their own tuition. A draft of Rep. Kilmer’s legislation caps tuition increases at 14% per year, with a 10% maximum increase over the span of the next two years.

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