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Economy Sends People to Back-to-School for Better Jobs. Obama to Offer Tuition Aid

By: Alex De Mostafa


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Unemployment rates are growing, and jobs are in high demand. More and more people are turning back to traditional and online universities to help them gain a more competitive edge in their search to maintain their family's income. Unfortunately, though, this is an impossibility for some.

What do you do if you've been jobless for a couple of months, and you're already facing foreclosure or eviction from your home because you can't pay the rent or the mortgage? How can you afford a loan to continue your education? Banks are having enough difficulty lending to people with good credit, and people in these situations don't have the credit they may have previously held.

Neither brick and mortar or accredited online universities are anxious to offer student loans to people who don't have jobs or are already facing bankruptcy because of unemployment. Furthermore, most people rarely keep the cash on hand to pay tuition for a college degree. How are the tens of thousands of people who desperately need the benefit of a traditional or online Graduate Degree program going to be able to afford to go back to school?

President-Elect Barack Obama offers some hope for resolving the educational crisis. His plan includes assessing what areas of the nation's economy are most succeptable to future job cutbacks. He then intends to offer tuition assistance to workers in these career positions, so that they can get further education or vocational training before these jobs disappear.

Accredited online university degree programs offer threatened workers a perfect opportunity to return to school and earn a Bachelor Degree at home without quitting their jobs or cutting back their hours. These students can continue earning an income and providing for their families by preparing for a potential layoff. Furthermore, they don't have to waste all of their time away from their family commuting back and forth from a traditional brick and mortar university.

Obama has also pushed for the development of flexible education spending accounts for employees. People would be able to budget a certain percentage of their regular paycheck to set aside for college tuition payments. Then, if the situation arose, the allocated funds could be tapped for education to promote the student's career.

These accounts may be very similar to the flexible spending accounts already designated by many employers for healthcare and childcare costs. Most of these accounts are tax-exempt, so employees would be able to budget education funds without being taxed on this income. This tax break saves more money than merely allowing a tax deduction on a portion of the education costs.

The economic future is cloudy, but one thing is sure. Mr. Obama's presidential campaign promised major changes in education, taxes, and many other areas of the U.S. Economy. The next few months will be interesting, and change is sorely needed. Let's hope that the change to come will benefit us all!

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Author Sheila Danzig is world renowned education expert. She is currently on faculty at European-American University. For more information on distance education degree programs, and the latest in education policies in America, visit her website at www.thecollegedegrees.com. Visit Economy Sends People to Back-to-School for Better Jobs. Obama to Offer Tuition Aid.

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