The overall spending per student by select countries for higher education in both public and private systems .
The Final Stimulus Package
Published Friday, February 20th, 2009
This week in Denver, the President signed the $787 billion stimulus package that streaked its way through Congress. The final bill is split into 36% for tax cuts and 64% percent in spending and money for social programs. Overall, it is $38 billion different from the original plan President Obama had introduced earlier in January. Highlights include:
• $787 billion total, $38 billion subtracted from original
• $308 billion in total spending, $142 billion subtracted (Federal Budget)
• $190 billion in Federal Aid for Education, Public Safety, Low-income, Individual and Health Care (Number of U.S. citizens below the poverty level)
• $288 billion in tax relief ($800—down from $1000—tax cuts for families, $400 tax cuts for individuals through social security payroll deductions, Business, Manufacturing, Economy, Infrastructure, Energy and other tax cuts), $13 billion added (Tax as a percentage of GDP)
• $48 billion for infrastructure, $42 billion subtracted (Spending on infrastructure)
• $90 billion Medicaid aid to states, $3 billion added (Public and private expenditures for health care)
• $53.6 billion to aid state in education, $25.4 billion subtracted
(Spending for the Department of Education)
• $44.6 billion for additional school funding to balance education budgets, prevent cutbacks and modernize schools, $3.6 billion added (Average finances by school district size and Higher education spending)
• $45 billion to encourage renewable energy production, $9 billion subtracted
(Non-Renewable v. Renewable)
• $18.6 billion for health care technology incentives and research for effective treatments, $5.4 billion subtracted (Cost per patient per day and per stay)
• $16 billion for Science/technology, equal (Research funds for science and technology)
• $15.6 billion to increase Pell Grants by $500, $0.6 billion added
(Rising tuition)
Of course, this is just the combined highlights; the Stimulus and Recovery Act is well over 1,000 pages long. The administration, in an effort to become more tranparent, has set up a site in which anyone can track how and where the money is being spent: www.recovery.gov
Posted in Budget, Economics, Education, Energy, Healthcare, Poverty, Research, Taxes, Transportation | No Comments »
The Stimulus Package, Before the Politicking
Published Thursday, January 29th, 2009
Last night, the US House of Representatives passed its version of President Obama’s Stimulus package. The original package-as of January 15th-before the House debated and changed the bill, contained the following provisions:
• $825 billion total
• $550 billion in new spending. (Federal Budget)
• $275 billion in tax relief ($1,000 tax cut for families, $500 tax cut for individuals through SS payroll deductions). (Tax as a percentage of GDP)
• $ 90 billion for infrastructure (Spending on infrastructure)
• $ 87 billion Medicaid aid to states. (Numbers of enrollees)
• $ 79 billion school districts/public colleges to prevent cutbacks. (Average finances by school district size)
• $ 41 billion for additional school funding ($14 billion for school modernizations and repairs, $13 billion for Title I, $13 billion for IDEA special education funding, $1 billion for education technology) (Spending for the Department of Education)
• $ 54 billion to encourage energy production from renewable sources (Non-Renewable v. Renewable)
• $ 24 billion for “health information technology to prevent medical mistakes, provide better care to patients and introduce cost-saving efficiencies” and “to provide for preventative care and to evaluate the most effective health care treatments.” (Cost per patient per day and per stay)
• $ 16 billion for science/technology ($10 billion for science facilities, research, and instrumentation; $6 billion to expand broadband to rural areas). (Research funds for science and technology)
• $ 15 billion to increase Pell grants by $500 (Rising tuition)
• $ 6 billion for “higher education modernization.” (Higher education Spending)
Posted in Budget, Education, Energy, Healthcare, Research, Taxes, Transportation | No Comments »
The Cost of Education
Published Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
The common reaction to the downturn is for people to go back to school to get degrees or training to better themselves and their working conditions. Yet, in the news, small community colleges and large universities are experiencing a recession of their own, as hiring freezes, budget cuts, tuition hikes in the double digits are becoming necessary to survive. As a consequence, universities are having to reduce course offerings, jam students into overcrowded auditoriums, offer online courses for overflows, phase out majors, and even cap the head count.
Federal data states that the percentage of college degrees attained by minorities and the majority alike has risen steadily for the last decade but as of 2003, has declined for males of all races. Borrowing also has risen for all types of loans and grants given that the rise in tuition has more than tripled between 1988 to the present for public and state schools. Baring Switzerland, the U.S. spends the most of any country on higher education, which amounts to roughly a quarter of the state institutions’ budget.
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U.S. Department Of Education - http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml?src=a
The Department of Education was created in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. The Department's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. The site contains a host of statistics and research regarding all aspects of the issues of education.
FREE -- Federal Resources for Educational Excellence - http://free.ed.gov/index.cfm
FREE makes it easier to find teaching and learning resources from the federal government. More than 1,500 federally supported teaching and learning resources are included from dozens of federal agencies. New sites are added regularly.