17th District Congressional Candidates: College Students
By: Matthew Fuchs
Updated: October 26, 2012
In the race for the 17th district congressional seat, Republican incumbent Bobby Schilling is facing Democrat Cheri Bustos.
Our question: With rising costs, heavy debt...
What needs to be done to make college more affordable to students?
Bobby Schilling:
We've got to address the cost issues and see why every time a Pell Grant gets an increase the colleges also increase their fees. The one thing I think would be really helpful is to sit down and get ideas from the colleges. You know, to have the bureaucrats in DC to try and make the fix isn't the way to do it. But I think competition - our K through 12 needs to have a lot of work.
I think we need to capture our kids early on; 7th and 8th grade and try to steer them into a position that they might want to go to. And the fact of the matter is not all children; including several of mine are not going to go to college. I think that's also very important.
Cheri Bustos:
Pell Grants have allowed students to go to college for many years. It's a way to help, especially low income families to be able to help their kids go to college. In an economy where we need to make sure people have the necessary tools to take on the next wave of employment; we need that more than ever.
