Alexandra Daley, Carly Lassa, Nikko Genoese, Adam Kleiber, Julianne Culley, Saran Polchan, Billy Gault, Shannon

Kaminski, Collin Gillespie

College Tuition: Can You Pay For A Brighter Future? (Script)

Introduction:

(Introduce ourselves by name, and then go into the introduction piece of the deliberation.)

Imagine your brother, sister, daughter, son, niece, nephew, or friend got accepted into an

Ivy League school. How many people would be excited? (Pause to let people raise their hands.)

How many people would lose the excitement after realizing the enormous price tag? This is a

modern reality for families across the nation. Some deserving students sacrifice their

opportunities to attend a preferred college in order to make sound financial decisions. According

to an article from Forbes.com, 75% of High School Seniors will be accepted into their first

choice institution, but roughly only 50% will attend because of inability to cover the costs.

By a show of hands, how many students balance their budget and/or manage student

loans or parent loans? The term broke college student is not a myth as we all know. The

average student in the United States graduates with $23,000 dollars of debt. Stand up, if after

graduation, you plan to buy a house, a car, have several credit cards, or continue your education?

Before you can clear any of those hurdles, we must responsibly understand that the national

student debt total is greater than all mortgage loans, cars loans, and credit card debts at 1.3

trillion dollars. That equates to a hundred brand new skyscrapers in New York City or 43 years

in a world without hunger. One trillion dollars would also pay for a one year salary for eighteen

million teachers. We could go on making comparisons for hours, but I think you all get the point.
 In an ideal world, the cost of college will lower on its own, but that isnt reality. We are

here today to listen to your opinion - the opinion of the people. We encourage you to share your

honest opinions with each other, and encourage ideas of all sorts. We ask that you remain

respectful of others beliefs at all times and encourage everyone to speak at least once. We want

to hear what you have to say!

(Explain that we will break up into groups of three and discuss our 3 approaches....)

Approach #1 - Government

How can government reduce tuition cost?

What do you think about the government doing more to help you complete a degree?

Well, in France, Norway, and Finland the government provides free or virtually free college

educations for any student, leaving them without the strain of debt post-graduation. Taking a

look at these three leading nations in education, the socialist/liberal form of government differs

significantly than that of the United States. This leads us to ask the question, would the

integration of socialist/liberal tactics on paying for public college tuition benefit a democratic

society? What makes the U.S. different is that we spend twice as much on defense spending than

the rest of the world combined. During the 2016 election what was the most talked about issue?

*college tuition* As policy makers, our government has a great deal of power with the use of

taxation and the ability to create monetary policies. However, the power to tax can greatly help

diminish the cost of educations in many ways. During the elections, Bernie Sanders provoked
millions of college students by advocating a tax on Wall Street speculation that would generate

$300 billion dollars a year for education.

What is one of the most equitable ways the government can incentivize groups to fund

higher education? The United States has the unique ability to write our own legislation that could

incentivize companies to fund scholarships for students by providing tax cuts. As a group, lets

list a number of the common expenses that every student spends in order to attend a college

institution? Following that, what monetary policies can our government introduce to lower these

costs? We can diminish student debts by lowering interest rates on student loans and

implementing price ceilings on goods and services such as room and board, textbooks, AP

credits, and overall tuition. Finally, the most effective way that the U.S. federal government can

diminish costs is by expanding existing grants and allocating more funds from defense, health

care, social security, and infrastructure to public institutions. Hypothetically, what radical idea or

system can we brainstorm as a group that government can implement to solve this epidemic? The

U.S. government also has the power to exponentially decrease the cost of any public college

degree. Researchers have estimated the total cost to pay for public college was $65.2 billion.

Taking this fact divided by the total amount of public 4 year students of 15.6 million would be

roughly $4k-5k per student a year.

Approach #2 - Students and Families

How can students and families reduce tuition cost?

 How many of you applied for at least one scholarship? How many of you were actually

awarded one? Then how does 2.9 million dollars in scholarship money goes unclaimed by high

school graduates each year. Why do you think this happens? (Here they talk with us or in small

groups). There are some pretty bizarre scholarships out there, including a fishing scholarship, a

clown scholarship, and a scholarship for who can create the most creative sandwich. Websites

like FastWeb, Zinch, and Cappex offer scholarships for just about anything you can imagine.

And the opportunities dont stop here, there are hundreds of local and statewide scholarships all

across the country.

While extra money is nice to have, wouldnt it be nicer to not have to pay for a class? AP

classes offer that opportunity. How many of you took AP classes in high school? How did you

benefit from taking AP courses in high school? Do you think you did? (Break into small groups

and talk here)

Although your top college pick may be outside of your home state, in state tuition offers

an appealing option. I know personally, I was torn between Penn State and an in state institution

based solely on price, and Im sure I am not the only one. I know it may not be idle, but students

every year choose a college to attend based on financial restrictions. College is a time to explore

- do you think paying out of state tuition is worth it? Under what circumstances? (Time for

audience discussion) President Baron has sited in a State of State speech that ways a Penn State

degree is valued not by the cost to attend, but rather graduation rates, total domestic and

international applications, alumni scholarships, employment after graduation, and many other

areas related to course work. We all know Penn State has a reputation for excellence. A Penn

State degree not only provides a thorough education, but ensures a secure job in the future just
like many other colleges. All colleges provide an opportunity to a successful job after graduation

- so how is going out of state justified? (discussion) Do you think that the extra cost of an out of

state university is worth the degree? (more discussion)

We can all agree that college is pretty expensive. We can probably also agree that there

are ways to mitigate the burden of tuition.

Approach #3 - College Institutions

How can college institutions reduce tuition cost?

How many of you guys have seen something at this school and thought Where is my tuition
money going, if its not going here? (ex. Broken elevators, cracked sidewalks, faulty
computer/software systems, etc.)

Taking Penn State as an example, tuition accounts for 80% of discretionary funds.

If you think of a university as a business, it puts into perspective how income must match, or
preferably, outweigh expenses. In order to reduce tuition, a primary source of income, there has
to be a corresponding increase in income, and/or decrease in expenses elsewhere.

Do you know where the majority of Penn States income comes from?
(hold up visuals)

Penn States Audited Financial Statements show that tuition holds the highest source of
income. So we would have to find a way to make up for this decrease in income elsewhere:
however, the next source of income is the Health/Hospital center, followed by restricted funds,
and auxiliary(like food services), then, state appropriations. However, all of these sources of
income do not have a lot of wiggle room; so our only option is to INCREASE funds within other
sources, or DECREASE expenses. (like a seesaw)

But we dont want to reduce quality.

 This is where you would come in. I am sure each of you have seen places where waste
can be cut down, revenue could be increased, a place where things could be run more efficiently.
No matter how small it may seem, no matter how unlikely or out-of-the-box, each little change
can add up. These can come from any source, whether administration, groundskeeping, or
academics.

Have you noticed how certain things could be made more efficient in the classroom? In the
dining halls?

We want you to brainstorm different places that will allow colleges to cut tuition while keeping
their books balanced.

Guiding Questions:

While all professors are qualified educators, college students know that there are some
professors that are not adequate at teaching students effectively. Should colleges
implement programs to better identify these teachers, either for elimination,
improvement, or replacement?
Are there more efficient programs that the school could use for academic support? Angel
vs canvas, for example.
Can schools implement different major paths that do not require a full eight semesters? In
other words, can some required credits/prerequisites that are deemed unnecessary for
certain majors be eliminated in order to reduce the amount of credits a student must pay
for to get a degree?
What if credits were universal, so that students who take core courses for their first two
years at a community college could have their credits accepted anywhere they want to
go?
How many courses have you taken in High School that you have retaken in college?
(ex. Relate back to AP credits being accepted based off of test scores rather than
course work)
How can Facilities (heat/insulation; building development; etc) be made to be more
efficient, with less need for constant development, updates, and maintenance.

(Now each group creates a list of general solutions for each approach. Once this is done, group

leaders come together and present each groups ideas and solutions in front of everyone.)
Conclusion:

It is important to close this discussion with further action we can take in order to address the
issue.

As you can see, we have come up with some great solutions; and now its clear that coming
together to discuss an issue can take us farther than any one of us could go alone.

As members of society, we wish to create a better future for our children and grandchildren. A
future where unaffordable college tuition does not serve as a deterrent from pursuing a higher
education. A future where everyone has equal educational opportunities, regardless of economic
background. A future where the most important thing about getting into college is ones quality
of character, not ones zip code.

So, what can you do to make a difference? (pause and talk with the crowd about this for a little
while)

Here are some ideas

1. Contact your representatives, both at the state and federal level. For University Park, our
representative in the House of Representatives is Glenn Thompson. Our senators are
Robert Casey and Patrick Toomey. All of these individuals have publically available
phone numbers for constituent calls. A quick 5-minute phone call simply voicing your
concern and expressing a desire to make change WILL make a difference. At times,
calling will not work, so you can also send a well-written email in order to get your point
across.
Remember: being determined and persistent is the best way to show our representatives
that this issue is pressing, and worth their time to look into!
2. Get involved with an advocacy group that specializes in combating the challenges of
rising college tuition.
For example, the MDRC is a nonprofit organization that specializes in helping
low-income individuals.
Another nonprofit organization is The Education Trust, which works to create additional
opportunities for low-income students in the higher education system. These are some of
many, many organizations who are already actively attempting to tackle the issue. Any
 support you can offer them, either through donations or volunteer work, will definitely
make an impact.
3. Lastly, come to other deliberation presentations like this one. Local communities are the
cornerstone of creating lasting change in America. Very rarely has an individual been
able to create change by themselves, they rely on the help of the communities around
them.
By coming together as a community and exposing ourselves to new, different
perspectives, we grow both as individuals and as a group. We take the ideas gathered
during activities like this and spread them to those around us, thereby creating a desire for
a meaningful, lasting solution.

These are only three ways that will help your voice be heard-- but there are still countless other
ways to excite change. We hope you have taken something new from this event, whether it be a
new perspective, an idea on how you can get involved in creating change, or a spark of
inspiration for new solutions for the future. We thank you for your time and attention: Keep your
eye out on http://highercollegecost.weebly.com/ for the post-deliberation report!