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Published Tuesday, February 07, 2012 in Opinion

Parents should pay for college

A recent opinion suggested implementing a surtax on HOPE student incomes after they leave college. Then HOPE becomes another type of student loan, and these investments have poor repayment rates.

In analyzing DOE repayment rates for 2009 the New York Times reported, "Repayment rates were 54 percent at public colleges and universities, 56 percent at private nonprofit institutions and 36 percent at for-profit colleges." No business could survive with customer repayment rates this low.

How will the surtax be collected if the student leaves college prematurely and ends up unemployed? How will this surtax be collected if the former HOPE student leaves the state? Will we need more government bureaucracy to track students and force payment?

Instead of looking to government, there's a plethora of scholarships. According to Financial Aid Finder, "The reality is that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in scholarship monies available in the United States, and many -- if not most -- of these scholarships are attainable by regular students with regular accomplishments. There are even dozens of odd and unusual scholarships for all those odd and unusual students out there."

Relying on government has significantly contributed to the financial deficit our country is in right now. The so-called entitlement programs weigh heavily on public funding. We need to reject the mentality of reaching into government treasuries and start relying on personal responsibility.

Parents should be held responsible for educating their own children. Relying on government funding is irresponsible and misguided and as the present economy demonstrates, risky. If you can't afford children, why are you bringing them into the world?

Parents should prepare for their children's education starting at the child's birth and not expect others to do it for them.

Ken Schaefer

Sharpsburg