**Ellison pushes student loan bill**
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA — Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn, encouraged citizens Friday to voice their support in maintaining lower student loan rates.
Ellison said he would co-sponsor a bill that would prevent an increase in student loan interest rates. The current Stafford loan rate is at 3.4 percent and will rise to 6.8 percent if the bill expires in July.
“In the last few decades America has somehow decided that a college education is more of a private investment than a social good,” he said.
Ellison said he believes if the cost of college goes up in the U.S., its global competitiveness will decline as well as individual achievement and income.
—The Minnesota Daily
By Aaron Dubois
**Iowa policymakers: Eliminating tuition hikes challenging?**
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA —Iowa policymakers agree with President Obama that making higher education affordable is important, but leaders here stopped short of promising to halt tuition increases.
Iowa Regent Robert Downer said he largely agreed with Obama, but extraneous factors can make tuition increases inescapable.
“I am in agreement with his concerns about excessive tuition increases but feel that the colleges and universities are not solely at fault,” Downer wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan. “State appropriations have taken a hit in nearly every state —- in some cases, for good reasons due to the economic downturn.”
Tim Albrecht, a spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad, said due to budget gaps in expenditures and revenue last year, each area in the state budget saw a decrease, including appropriations for higher education. Funding for higher education was cut by $20 million last year at the state level.
“You have to understand the size and the scope of the terrible financial ruin that ‘plighted’ us when we got to office,” Albrecht said.
Although most areas will likely see stagnant appropriations, Branstad plans to increase funding for state universities by $20 million this year, Albrecht said.
—The Daily Iowan
By Asmaa Elkeurti
**Experts, recent graduates share insight on job market**
UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON — The U.S. had an 8.5 percent unemployment rate in December 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the past 12 months have seen protests about the economy on a global stage.
But Jason Eckert, director of UD’s Career Services, said other more proactive steps exist for students to track down jobs.
“I would much rather see a student dedicate that time and that effort into getting an internship rather than engaging in some sort of a protest because long-term, that internship is really going to be helpful in building that student’s resume and enabling them to get employment of their choice in a desired amount of time,” Eckert said.
Elizabeth Gustafson, an associate dean in the School of Business Administration and economics professor, said one bad economic year might have led to an ongoing accumulation of young job-seekers. She said the biggest advantage individuals can have is finishing a college degree.
“I think we’re in a situation right now where people have to have the education if they want any hope of furthering their career in a beneficial way,” Gustafson said. “… So it might be hard trying to find a job out of college, but just try doing it if you don’t go.”
—Flyer News
By Jacob Rosen