Economy Sends People To Back-to-school For Better Jobs. Obama To Offer Tuition Aid

2009-01-06 Word Count: 504 Category: College

Unemployment rates are growing, and jobs are scarce. More and more people are turning back to traditional and online universities to help them gain a more competitive edge in their search to maintain their family's income. Unfortunately, though, this is an impossibility for some.

What do you do if you've been unemployed for a couple of months, and you're already facing losing your home because you can't pay the rent or the mortgage? How can you afford a loan to continue your education? Banks are having enough difficulty lending to people with good credit, and people in these situations don't have good credit.

Neither traditional or accredited online universities are anxious to offer student loans to people who don't have jobs or are already facing bankruptcy because of credit issues. Furthermore, most people rarely keep the cash on hand to pay tuition for a degree that wasn't expected. How are the tens of thousands of people who desperately need the benefit of a traditional or online Graduate Degree program going to be able to afford to go back to school?

President-Elect Barack Obama offers some hope for fixing the educational crisis. His plan includes resolving what areas of the nation's economy are most vulnerable to future job cutbacks. He then intends to offer tuition assistance to workers in these career positions, so that they can get further education or vocational training before these at risk jobs are lost.

Top ranked online universities offer threatened workers a perfect opportunity to return to school and earn a Bachelor Degree at home without quitting their jobs or cutting back their hours. These providers can continue earning an income and providing for their families by preparing for a involuntary job loss, resulting in forced career change. Furthermore, they don't have to spend all of their time away from their family commuting back and forth from a traditional brick and mortar university.

Obama has also advocated the development of flexible education spending accounts for employees. People would be able to budget a certain percentage of their regular paycheck for college tuition payments. They could then use this money to pay for traditional or online degree courses that would help to improve their chances of success in the job market.

These accounts may be very similar to the flexible spending accounts already in place by many employers for healthcare and childcare costs. Most of these accounts are tax-exempt, so employees would be able to set relief money aside without being taxed on this income. Offering this tax break saves more money than merely receiving a tax deduction for a portion of the tuition expense.

The economic future is uncertain, but one thing is sure. Mr. Obama's presidential campaign promised major reforms in education, taxes, and many other areas of the U.S. Economy. The next few months will be interesting, and change is sorely needed. Let's hope that the change to come will benefit us all!

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Author Sheila Danzig is an international education expert. She is currently on faculty at European-American University. For more information on distance education degree programs, and the latest in education policies in America, visit her website at www.thecollegedegrees.com. Visit Economy Sends People to Back-to-School for Better Jobs. Obama to Offer Tuition Aid.