House Speaker Lance Cargill wasn’t just being prophetic when he said one of the biggest civil justice issues of the 21st century will be the affordability of a college education. He was being dead-on accurate. On the federal level, House Democrats made one of their first goals of the new session to cut interest rates on student loans. The measure got strong bipartisan support and would slice rates on the subsidized student college loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent in stages over five years. About 5.5 million students count on the loans each year. College costs have increased substantially in Oklahoma over the last several years, as well as across the nation. Other big issues when it comes to higher education include interest rate breaks for parents who are taking out college loans for their children. Also at issue is finding ways to increase federal college grants to help the poor meet rising college tuition. These are weightier issues and will take more debate than can be accomplished in a 100-hours public relations timeline; still, it is a move in a positive direction. Read more... Posted at 1/23/2007 09:37:00 AM