The FINANCIAL — Government student loans are another area under the congressional budget-cutting microscope.
Most voters favor their continuation for poor and middle-income students but are decidedly less enthusiastic about outright government grants for schooling that don’t need to be repaid.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 75% of Likely U.S. Voters think the government should make loans available to a good student who comes from a poor household so he or she can go to college. Only 14% oppose such loans, with another 11% not sure about them.
Similarly, 77% of voters believe the government should provide loans for good students from middle-class households to go to college. Fourteen percent (14%) again are opposed.
Thirty-one percent (31%) of Americans said in June 2010 that it is too hard to get a student loan for college in this country today, while just 13% believe it’s too easy. Thirty-seven percent (37%) think the current student loan situation is about right.
The federal government currently gives out so-called Pell Grants to about eight million college students, and they never have to be repaid. This costs the government about $30 billion a year. Forty-three percent (43%) of voters think Pell Grants should be continued, but 38% disagree and feel the grants should be discontinued. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided.
The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 17-18, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Pell Grants can run as high as $5,500 per student per year, and when a dollar figure is put on student grants, voters are less supportive of them. Forty-one percent (41%) say, instead of student loans, the federal government should give good students from poor households grants of up to $5,500 that never have to be repaid. Slightly more voters (45%), however, oppose grants of that size for low-income students that don’t have to be repaid. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure about them.
Opposition is even higher when it comes to grants of up to $5,500 that don’t have to be repaid for good students from middle-class households. Thirty-five percent (35%) favor the grants in cases such as these, while 51% oppose them. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.
Indicative of the partisan debate over the issue in Washington, DC, most Republicans (61%) oppose the continuation of Pell Grants, while the majority (58%) of Democrats and a plurality (48%) of voters not affiliated with either party favor their continuance.
When it comes to unnamed grants of up to $5,500 for low-income students, most Democrats support them, and most GOP voters oppose them. Unaffiliated voters are evenly divided.
Democrats, in turn, are almost evenly divided when it comes to grants of up to $5,500 for good students from middle-income homes. Most Republicans and the plurality (47%) of unaffiliateds oppose the grants in cases like these.
The majority of all three groups support the continuation of government student loans, but GOP voters are the least enthusiastic.
After President Obama signed a law revamping the student loan process in March of last year, just 28% liked the new law’s provision that the government will forgive any money it is still owed after 20 years.
Americans still believe a college degree is a helpful tool in today’s economy, but they also continue to feel life experience is more valuable.
However, 89% say it will be at least somewhat difficult for recent graduates to find a job in the current economy. That includes 56% who say it will be Very Difficult.
When it comes to pre-college education, voters overwhelmingly believe taxpayers are not getting a good return on what they spend on public education, and just one-in-three voters think spending more will make a difference.
www.rasmussenreports.com
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