There was once a consensus in America that education was a public good. There was a collective understanding that the education of my neighbor’s child was good for all of us. As a nation, we’ve drifted from those principles.
Students are covering twice as much of their college cost as they did
20 years ago and 71% of those who drop out of college say they left school
to get a job because they needed money. The prevailing story is that college costs have risen at an astronomical rate and students are being priced out of school. But that is not what is happening. Students are being priced out, but college costs the same as it did in 1999. What’s different now is that our drift from education as a public good has shifted the financial burden of college from the commonwealth to the individual. When Pell Grants were first made available to low-income students, this public source of support covered nearly all of a student’s college costs. Today Pell Grants cover less than a third.
Bridge Idaho exists and operates these programs because we believe in the public responsibility to provide for the education of every student and believe that opportunity, access and achievement in education should not be a consequence of economic circumstance.
There has never been a time when education was as indispensable
and valuable as it is now - for our kids, for our communities, for our country. There has also seldom been a time when providing that education required overcoming so many challenges. Yet we stand ready and look forward to partnering with you and working together, because, despite these challenges, we’re certain that the best of what we have to offer our participants is still ahead of us.
Thank you for your interest in Bridge Idaho.
Michael Highfill