CEDAR RAPIDS — The ethics of college affordability marched to the forefront of a U.S. senator’s visit to Iowa.
On June 24, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, held a U.S. Military Service Academy Open House at the Cedar Rapids Public Library for students who are interested in applying to service academies.
Ernst’s visit came three days after President Trump’s rally in Cedar Rapids at the U.S. Cellular Center.
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Ernst is one of the few female veterans to serve in the U.S. Congress. She said this positions her as someone who understands firsthand the things people can learn by serving their country.
One of the opportunities discussed at the event was the potential offering of full-ride scholarships to students who serve and also attend service academies.
Don Lane, who knows Ernst — she was his commander in the Iowa National Guard — said it was great to see the energy of the young people in attendance. He said he sees the scholarship offering as a great way to attract the “best of the best.”
“It’s OK to provide tuition and let them respond with a certain number of years of obligation in the service of their choice [as a means] to repay that and to give back after they’ve been given the education,” he said.
Elizabeth Dinschel, an organizer with Action Iowa and Indivisible Iowa, said in context of both rising tuition and the efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, she wanted to see more done to shift money from military spending to health care and education.
“If we’re going to continue funding a huge war machine, then we should put America first and recycle some of that money back into taking care of people,” she said.
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Ernst defended the opportunity as a great way to serve Iowans.
“There are a lot of kids who may not have that opportunity to get a four-year education,” she said. “It’s just like any other scholarship opportunity that exists out there. However, there is a service commitment after they’ve gone to a service academy.”
Olivia Cowart, a 17-year-old Iowan interested in applying to military academies, said she is considering attending such an institution regardless of the scholarship opportunities, but as someone from a middle-class family, she found the possibility enticing.
“[It’s] very competitive, but I’m here to be competitive,” she said. “I want that full-ride scholarship … We don’t have $37,000 to pay for college. I don’t, and I’d like to sort of set myself up for the future by being debt-free and having a job by the time I get out. I think that’s why most of everybody is here, is because of that full-ride scholarship and because of that top-quality education that the academies will give.”
Affordability remains an issue for Iowans after the state Board of Regents’ decided to increase tuition at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa earlier this month. Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said in a statement after the June 8 vote that affordable access to higher education is critical for people to live at a middle-class standard.
“Our Republican-led state government has not done its part to keep the door to college open for average Iowans,” he said. “We must do everything we can to ensure that average kids are not priced out of an education or burdened with crushing student debt that prevents them from ever getting ahead.”
Ernst said one thing that can be done on the federal level to advocate for affordability is try to make student loans affordable.
“What I’d like to see is that students actually know how much they should be borrowing if they are going to — whether it’s a community college or a four-year institution — basically know beforehand what are their job prospects coming out of school, are they able to repay everything that they’ve borrowed,” she said. “Many of our students borrow a lot more money than they actually need when they go to school, and they end up owing a lot more and it’s very unaffordable on the far end.”