Educate to Innovate!

So, I am so excited to hear that someone is finally praising scientists and engineers like athletes and movie stars. Science can be cool, and President Obama recognizes this.

White House Begins Campaign to Promote Science and Math Education
President Obama made a statement about this new campaign:

If you win the N.C.A.A. championship, you come to the White House,” he said. “Well, if you’re a young person and you’ve produced the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.

“Scientists and engineers ought to stand side by side with athletes and entertainers as role models, and here at the White House, we’re going to lead by example. We’re going to show young people how cool science can be.”

I am so excited to see "Educate to Innovate" begin. Science societies are promising to volunteer and work with students in the classroom, leading up to a National Lab day in May. Change can not take place over night, and these programs may not necessarily solve all of our education woes, but I think programs like this, that get students more excited about academics can never be bad.

Because President Obama is so popular, especially among the younger generation, kids are likely to listen to him when he speaks. He is taking his back to school speech one step farther with this campaign.

I may not necessarily agree with all of President Obama's policies, but this one I can certainly say, that I think this is a great idea, and will hopefully get many students more interested in science and math.

tuition blog update.

So, i thought i would do a brief follow up of my previous blog on tuition increases.

This article pretty much says everything I wish I had said first.


Though we are in a recession, and many people are being severely hurt by tuition increases, our educations are becoming better.

"Over the 1967 to 2007 period, the average annual growth rate of tuition paid was 6 percent at the most selective colleges, but the growth rate in their resources was 13 percent and the growth rate in their subsidies was 25 percent!"

In response to the comments about USC spending their money on beautification, I think that it is a necessary expense. Though, I do not know to what extent the school uses its money on beautification projects, i know that many people are drawn to the university because of its campus. It is a beautiful campus and many people would not be willing to attend if the campus mirrored the neighborhood that it sits in.

Also, many students complain that they do not feel safe in the area, and when USC spends the money to try to improve the area, they complain that their tuition is being wasted on frivolous things like purchasing more property, etc. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

You pay for quality, and that is what we are receiving attending USC. A quality education, at a price that reflects as such. I am still a firm believer that in the end, the price is worth it.

"Race to the Top" or "Race to the Flop?"

Last Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan released the final application for the Race to the Top fund, a revision of the proposal released by the Department of Education in July. Race to the Top is a federal grant that will award pieces of more than $4 billion to states who “have led the way in reform and will show the way for the rest of the country to follow,” says Duncan. Though, in theory, it is good to allow states to spread their figurative wings in creating their own reform, it is a bad idea to turn reform into a competition. Instead of calling this a “Race to the Top,” the Department of Education should reconsider and call it “Another Bad Attempt to Reform Education.”

This $4.35 billion dollars is an unprecedented amount of federal sponsored money for reform, especially education, which is too often put on the back burner. Since there is this huge amount of money to be spent on education, it is imperative that all states get at least a portion of the money. Instead of turning it into a contest, where the top performing states get the most money, it should be divided up amongst the states based on population. The larger states should get a bigger cut of the four billing dollars. However, the government wants states to use this money to implement change, and just handing them the money will in effect, keep them from doing just that.

It is important that at least some of the money is conditional to keep states from using it without actually making any changes to their systems. I would propose the same type of competition for at least a portion of the money, but there should be a base amount given to every state to give them a jump start in changing their education systems. With at least a small portion of money, states will be better able to do the necessary research and start up programs for reform. Then, once every state has had an equal opportunity to get programs going, the rest of the monies can be rewarded based on the quality and effectiveness of said reforms.

If the government insists upon making this a competition, it should at least begin with a level playing field. Not every state has the means to start up programs without initial financial help. The way I see things going right now, is that the larger, more financially stable states will be able to provide the best reform programs and will receive the most “Race to the Top” funding, while states who need the money more will be unable to really participate. It is a vicious cycle. The states without enough education funding will not receive any of this money, and things will not change, while the big states with more money are just going to get more money.

Though I am excited to see our government finally instituting education reforms (the last time anything major was done was in 2001 with the No Child Left Behind Act, and we all know how well that worked out), I just wish that they would make a few changes first. Let’s give every state a chance to make some change, and finally fix our evident problem with education. Now that this program has already been started, I am excited to see if it actually works. I am guessing that we are going to see rich education states just get richer, without actually seeing very noticeable change. But, there are always surprises.

you cant put a price tag on a college education

As a college degrees become more sought after, universities are able to charge higher prices in order to obtain them. On November 1, 2009, the Chronicle of Higher Education released the newest list of colleges and universities in the United States that have exceeded costs of $50,000.(see the list by clicking here) This year the list has 58 schools that exceed that price mark- last year there were only 5! As a college degrees become more sought after, universities are able to charge higher prices in order to obtain them. Sarah Lawrence College tops this list with costs exceeding $53k, while my own School, USC is number 32 on the list with estimated costs at around $50,500.

I know that the schools on this list are all private institutions that do not receive funding from their states, which is why their tuition is significantly greater than most state schools, but the students do not complain about their high tuition as much as all the students going to state schools in California. With all the recent economic turmoil and budget cuts in California, there has been tuition increases at the University of California schools, as well as the California State University schools. There have been protests and rally's about these recent tuition increases, which reached around 10% at the beginning of summer.



Students need to realize that you can not put a price on your education. A college education offers you so much more in life experience than just the degree alone. In college you make professional connections that will help you to get a job later in life, and create invaluable friendships. Most of the lasting friends people make in life are during their years in college, and you can not put a price on them. If you were to ask any student at one of the colleges on the 50k list, they would tell you the same things I just wrote, which is why they do not mind paying a little extra for their tuition (not to mention, these are some of the highest ranked universities in the nation). Not all of the schools on the list are top tier schools though, yet students still have no problem paying the high prices to attend.



I know that it sucks to have to pay a little extra for tuition, but the fee increases do not outweigh the experience in college. In fact, there are fee increases every year anyways, just not as significant. I just with that instead of complaining about tuition, these students would just embrace the college experience and they will be able to see that it it worth the price. The experiences they have will last a lifetime.