Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden campaigned for Charlie Christ on Monday at the University of South Florida's Marshall Student Center. She was joined by Annette Taddeo, Christ’s running mate and candidate for Lieutenant Governor. In a round-table discussion with current and former USF students, they discussed affordable education.
Since taking office Governor Rick Scott has slashed funding for Bright Futures, a lottery funded scholarship program. While he said it was a way to make the program more competitive, critics says it is a huge burden on students from low income families. Scott is also responsible for major tuition hikes. From 2011 to 2012 he signed off increasing tuition by 13%.
As a college professor for over thirty years and mother of three college graduates, Ms. Biden sees firsthand the struggles students face today. "My students are going to school, they have children and sometimes more than one job; they are juggling a lot to get ahead.That’s why college affordability is so critical," she says. “Over the past three decades, the average tuition at a public four-year college has more than tripled, and the average four-year graduate comes away with more than $30,000 in debt.”
Taddeo is also a parent, married to a college professor and a college graduate who had to struggle to get through college. "I got through with student loans and Pell grants, and all of the help I could get from the institutions that were there," she said, adding that when she graduated, she moved back in with her parents to afford starting her first business.
Since Bright Futures funding was cut in half in Florida, Taddeo says that there are now 50,000 students without the Bright Futures Scholarship. “Most of them are African American or Hispanic, the kids that need it the most.” She promises that she and Charlie Crist will make sure that every single student has access to it. She mentioned forming a board that will address loan refinancing for the 51,000 graduates suffering from student loan debt in Florida. For students in a STEM area (science, technology, engineering and math) the Christ administration will provide a loan forgiveness plan, in which students will have to stay and work in Florida for a certain amount of years before they qualify, Taddeo said. She also says that if students stay, industry will grow. Florida’s work force will be larger and more attractive to big companies. While Rick Scott has provided tax incentives, “we haven’t seen the jobs,” she quipped.
Several of the students at the table were members of the USF College Democrats. John Quiroz, USF’s College Democrats Vice President, asks that while the Republican’s control the state Senate and the House, how would a Democratic administration get anything done? Taddeo says that Crist is very good at crossing party lines. “By electing a Democratic Governor, they will have to come to the table to talk. If they don’t want to move, we will lead them," she said.
USF student Joana Rabassa mentions the issue of the terms of the loan forgiveness program. While she understands having to stay in Florida for a certain amount of time, the proposed 120 payments add up to ten years. “That’s a pretty long time span," she said. "How long before we can start this refinance program? Our salaries are not compensating for the amount of debt we’ve accrued.” She says the only way she was able to intern in Washington was because she was able to go through a federally sponsored program, Without the scholarship she says she would not have been able to move to D.C. for any amount of time.
The recurring sentiment from the students was their fears about how they can balance their student loan bills with all of their other bills. Ryan Emison, a junior at USF asks, “How to plan to reform the cuts, and make tuition affordable, so we don’t graduate feeling like we have a monkey on our backs?” Taddeo says that when Crist was governor "we were going through a global economic recession", but now “we are going through good times; funding is not an issue, we have a surplus, but somehow our priorities are backwards.” She says that tax cuts to corporations are not what we need. She and Christ want to restore the cuts by putting education first.
They agree that the narrative must be open between students and those with authority, to establish affordable college education and a more accessible loan forgiveness programs. “With parameters, we want to make sure you are given the time to find a job,” says Taddeo. She proposes they review the eligibility for Bright Futures, “based on need, the way it was originally meant to be,” she says.