Open Letter to the President

Dear Mr. President,

First and foremost I would like to congratulate you in becoming the 44th president of the United States. Your eagerness and determination helped many Americans believe in the changes that you planned to make which is why I believe you are our president today. Although the economy was a major issue during the presidential election, education is most important to me because I am a college student.

One of the major issues within our education system is college not being affordable enough for all citizens. This financial barrier prevents many people from obtaining the education they need to have a successful life. Making college affordable seems like a challenging task but you made it seem very possible. In the ‘Reclaiming the American Dream Speech’ you stated, “We need to put a college education within reach of every American. That’s the best investment we can make in our future” (Obama 2007). This quote is very significant because there are many citizens who do not think they will ever have a chance to attend college.

In order to make this possible you proposed certain plans for higher education. The most vital issue is the cost of a college education. In order to make college affordable for all citizens you said you would create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. Your campaign site states, “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” (Obama). Since the tax credit is fully refundable this will help many low-income families who cannot afford to pay for college. The person who receives this credit for college must complete 100 hours of community service which does not amount to the $4,000 they receive for college. The only problem is, if the tuition of college keeps raising this $4,000 credit is not nearly enough to attend college.

Another plan you proposed that would help save money deals with student loans. This is very important because many students like myself do not want to take out student loans to attend college. You stated, “You can save billions of dollars by overhauling the federal student loan program, and creating a system that bypasses banks and private lenders in favor of having the U.S. Education Department run a direct lending program”(Abramson). I agree that this will save large amounts of money if our education systems give the loans out instead of banks.

The last plan that was most important to me was expanding the Pell Grant because I receive this grant. This would be very helpful for many citizens who rely on financial aid to attend college. Your campaign site states, “Two decades ago, the maximum Pell Grant covered 55 percent of costs at a public four-year college, compared with only 32 percent today. The first bill Barack Obama introduced in the U.S. Senate would have helped make college more affordable for many Americans by increasing the maximum Pell Grant from the limit of $4050 to a new maximum 0f $5,100” (Obama). This huge increase in the Pell Grant will provide many benefits to students who rely on this money. I also thought it was a clever idea that you would try to increase the grant as college tuition increases.

According to the Politifact.com, you have made “510 promises, of which 37 related to education.”Although it seems like many of your promises are not related to education I hope the 37 you proposed to make actually work. During the elections, education is an issue that is supposed to be resolved but not many presidents have found the right solutions. Since I will be a college student during your term I surely hope that the changes you offered to make are successful because many of them will affect my family and I. I am ready for your “promises of CHANGE”. Thanks for your time!

Sincerely,

Brittani McKnight

Works Cited

Abramson, Larry. "McCain, Obama Offer Dueling Education Plans ." NPR : National Public Radio :. 28 July 2008. 1 Mar. 2009 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93004032.

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden: Making College Affordable for Everyone." Obama Biden. 1 Mar. 2009 www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/CollegeAffordabilityFactSheet.pdf.

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need Education." Welcome to Obama for America. 1 Mar. 2009 http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/.

"PolitiFact Sorting out the truth in politics." St. Petersburg Times Online. 1 Mar. 2009 http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/.