Student letter in the Northwestern

I also should make note of a letter written by 3 college students that appeared in the A-T on Wednesday and the Northwestern yesterday. They were writing to complain about the 14 billion dollar cut in aid to college students made by congress. I heartily agree with their position. I hope that we will see some sort of political shift away from attacking higher education on all fronts.

Congressional cuts endanger UWO students

As many students can confirm, tuition is going up and so is the standard of living. In the 1989-90 academic school year at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, total tuition was $1,689. In the 2005-06 academic school year, the tuition jumped to $4,981. This doesn't include room or board. On Nov. 18, the U.S. Congress again slammed the door on college students. By a vote of 217-215 Congress passed the largest cut to student loans in the history of federal programs, cutting $14.3 billion. According to United States Student Association Vice President Jennifer Pae, "Many students can barely manage their current loan debt and increasing the typical student's loan debt by an added $5,800 will only make the students suffer."

As citizens of Oshkosh, we can say that the job market in our community isn't vast. Employers are looking for college degrees or a master's degree and experience. This requirement of major companies is very understandable; however, why then the lack of support for our students? As is, we are hardly able to work a job to cover the standard of living and attend all our classes.

We're not here to complain or gripe about being a student, nor asking you to take action. However, we want to point out the fact that poverty is on the rise, so are the responsibilities of being a student. Society has an expectation that we need to have a degree in order to hold a well-paying job and maintain a decent living without going below the poverty line. Please take a look at our community and think about what is going to happen if the 11,059 current UWO students continue to fall below that line.

Dan Scoville, Katie Seibel, and Teresa Gedko Oshkosh