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Over 100 Colleges and Universities Charge $50K or More a YearOctober 28, 2011 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I don't mean to harp on the subject of college tuition, but CNNMoney.com is reporting this: The number of colleges and universities with tuition and fees totaling more than $50,000 for a single year rose to 123 for the 2011-2012 year -- up from 100 institutions in the previous year." So 23 new colleges where it cost 50 grand minimum for a single year. Now, they point out in the story that this is more than the average United States salary. Do you know...

Gingrich calls Obama student loan proposal a 'Ponzi scheme'By Justin Sink - 10/28/11 08:15 AM ET Newt Gingrich said that President Obama's recently announced student loan proposal was a "Ponzi scheme." Obama's plan would allow for easier consolidation of outstanding student loans, and would forgive outstanding balances on federal loans after 20 years of payments, rather than 25. Federal loan repayments would also be capped at 10 percent of a borrower's income, lowering payments, down from 15 percent now. The president would also begin implementing the changes next year, rather than 2014 as was currently planned. But Gingrich says that...

This Treasury Inspector General report gives us yet another reason to end the education tax credits: 17.5% of all the money “paid” is fraudulent. Figure 2 tells us that there were $18.3B in education tax credits, and figure 3, shown below tells us that $3.2B of it was fraudulent. Super-committee, take note, killing the tax credits would yield significant savings (probably around $20B a year, though how this is scored by the CBO depends on the currently legislated future of the programs). Moreover, this will have virtually no effect on college affordability (tax credits and state appropriations are the types...

by John HillStand With Arizona Party and ideological divisions are roiling America. Battles over the budget, taxes, jobs and energy have crippled Washington. But there is one issue that people across the political spectrum agree on: they oppose giving in-state tuition to illegal aliens. According to the latest poll numbers, 69% of Americans oppose subsidizing those here illegally with in-state tuitions rates. 73% of Republicans oppose it - as one would expect. An even stronger 74% of Independents oppose it. But the same position resonates across ideological and ethnic lines too. 58% of Democrats oppose it too, as do...

While the battles over the budget underscore how polarized Americans have become, there is one issue that people across the political spectrum agree on: They oppose giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Fully 69% of Americans in the latest IBD/TIPP poll say they don’t favor states giving in-state college tuition to illegal residents while charging higher fees for legal, out-of-state residents. Just 22% support such a policy.

"Yet another sign Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign is facing challenges: Conservative students from his beloved alma mater are criticizing him for supporting in-state tuition rates for some undocumented students."

by John HillStand With Arizona It is hard to overstate the stunning embrace of lawlessness represented by three bills signed by California Governor Jerry Brown this past weekend. Brown on Saturday signed three bills that directly champion illegal aliens. Together, they put the state so far on the side of illegals (and against legal taxpayers), that California now has no legitimate rival for the title of "The Sanctuary State", and should consider changing their official motto accordingly. Facing a midnight deadline for sign several controversial bills, Brown avoided a public signing ceremony for these unpopular bills. He waited until the...

We’ve all heard about the tactic of using children as human shields, as practiced by Saddam Hussein, the Taliban and others. The idea is that you place civilians — preferably women and children — at military targets to reduce the chances that your enemy will attack and so that, if he does, he’ll look like a heartless miscreant who targets the least among us. Morally, it’s the least of tactics. Yet while we Westerners have made the practice illegal under the Geneva Convention, it’s not unknown in the United States — in our political battles. In the 1990s especially, it...

Brown signed the second part of the California Dream Act, after approving the first half in July. Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill allowing illegal immigrant students applying to state universities to receive state-funded scholarships and financial aid. AB131 by Democratic Assemblyman Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles is the second half of the California Dream Act. Brown, a Democrat, signed the first part in July, which approved private scholarships and loans for illegal immigrant students. The bill requires the immigrant students to meet the same requirements as others but specifies they would only qualify for financial aid after all...

by John HillStand With Arizona Over 500 people turned out for a protest against R.I. Gov. Lincoln Chafee's support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens - which was implemented with a lawless decree by Chafee's education "czars" when he failed to get the Legislature to pass the outrageous bill. Local media hailed the "unusually large turnout for a weeknight" at the the State House in Providence, which included many Stand With Arizona activists, along with members of Rhode Island for Immigration Law Enforcement, and average citizens furious at the Obama-style bypassing of elected officials on behalf of illegal aliens....

EVENT: JOIN R.I. LEGISLATORS AND PROTEST THE LAWLESS DECREE OF SUBSIDIZED TUITION FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS BY GOV. CHAFEE'S UNELECTED 'BOARD OF GOVERNORS'WHO: SWA Activists from RI, CT and MA - and ALL SWA'ers to call, fax or email. 6 Rhode Island Representatives and Senators will be attending the protest and holding a press conference (see below).WHERE: Rhode Island State House (Smith St. Side). Providence, R.I.WHEN: Wed., Oct 5th, 2011, 5:00 P.M. NOTE: SWA will be providing signs for you to print out (if you need them please email us at act@standwitharizona.com). Otherwise please bring your own (non-political) signs against in-state...

Defending the Defensible: Texas’s college tuition policy is not the abomination Mitt Romney claims. From the article: "The push to help illegals go to college began at the grassroots level. In 1998 the Dallas County Community College District unilaterally decided to charge illegal residents who had graduated from local high schools the in-state tuition rate. Community college districts in Houston and other locales quickly followed suit. Three years later, the state legislature took up a bill (H.B. 1403) which extended the same benefit to all undocumented Texas children, provided they pass four requirements: (1) They must have resided with a...

Matt Lewis says he’s improving on this issue. I guess, but that’s mainly because after you’ve tried to win over voters by calling them heartless, there’s really nowhere to go but up. A scene from New Hampshire this morning: “We have, for decades, had a federal government that has absolutely failed in its constitutional duty to defend our border,” Perry said. “I’m a governor. I don’t have the pleasure of standing on the stage and criticizing. I have to deal with these issues,” he later added. Perry continued, “In 2001, we had this choice: Are we going to kick these...

With Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry under attack for supporting tuition breaks for children of illegal immigrants, former Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday offered some solidarity by calling a similar proposal in Florida “fair policy." In 2001, Perry signed the first state law in the country that allowed the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates. Former Florida state Rep. Juan Zapata said the Texas law was "the model" for legislation that he repeatedly—but unsuccessfully—pushed in his state. Two of his key allies then are now among the GOP's most sought-after stars: Bush, the subject of perpetual draft...

Like many wealthy universities, Harvard offers only "need-based" financial aid, which means that rich parents need to pay much more than poor ones. Using the calculator at the site listed above, you can estimate the marginal income tax rate Harvard imposes. Assuming zero student assets, Harvard expects parents to contribute 10% of income up to $150K, which is $15K for parents earning $150K. Above that level, the marginal income tax is much higher. Parents earning $235K are expected to pay $52K. The marginal tax rate for income rising to $150K to $235K is (52-15)/(235-150) = 43.5% . This is of...

As the rest of the 2012 Republican presidential field ganged up on Texas Gov. Rick Perry during Thursday night’s GOP debate, illegal immigration was the evening’s hottest-button issue — particularly the granting of in-state tuition rates to children of illegal immigrants in Texas. Now Perry’s defense seems to have struck nerve with National Review columnist Mark Steyn. Filling in for Rush Limbaugh on his radio program Friday, Steyn, the author of “After America: Get Ready for Armageddon,” took issue with Perry’s response to those attacks. Rick Perry “has basically adopted the Democratic line now on the whole illegal immigration issue,”...

At dinner tables throughout the United States, there are tough conversations about the exploding cost of college, the rough job market, the pain of debt. For parents and students, it adds up to the same question: Is college worth it? But American University economics Professor Robert Lerman is asking something different: If college isn't worth it, what else is out there? Lerman, an Urban Institute fellow, has studied youth unemployment for decades, and thinks the United States ought to try an updated version of an old technique for education and employment: apprenticeships. They're not the same as an after-school fast...

Imagine a product where sky-rocketing prices outpace the growth of inflation and personal income. These prices are fueled by government subsidies, favorable taxation and cheap credit. The peddled product is highly priced and considered a signal and source of middle class prosperity. Those who have it are successful. Those who don't have it are left in the dust and both political parties in Washington, D.C. push relentlessly to expand the products availability to all Americans. No, this is not about the housing bubble. This is the higher education bubble. According to the College Board, tuition and fees at public universities...

Maryland Immigrant Tuition Plan Seems Headed For 2012 VoteBy BRIAN WITTE Associated Press Updated: Thursday, 07 Jul 2011, 9:55 PM EDT ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Opponents of a recently approved measure that would allow certain illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at Maryland colleges have collected enough signatures to put the matter before state voters in November 2012, officials said Thursday. The Maryland State Board of Elections board reported that 63,118 signatures had been validated. A total of 55,736 signatures is needed to put the measure on the ballot for voters to decide in November 2012. About 40,000 signatures remain to...

Nearly three years after Gov. Rick Perry held a little-noticed meeting with regents from university systems around the state, it's game on in the fight for higher education. The college of liberal arts at the University of Texas...weighed in today, releasing a...rebuttal to the market-driven approach favored by the governor and some of his supporters. The centerpiece of the movement, known as the "seven breakthrough solutions" and promoted by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, calls for treating students as "customers," judging faculty by how many students they teach and how those students rate them, and de-emphasizing research that doesn't...