Amanda Curtis at UM on Aug. 27 It’s clear that Amanda Curtis cares about college student in Montana while Steve Daines could care less.
To him they're just a bother – one more impediment to his coronation in November. Yes, Curtis is in touch with Montana while Steve Daines is wildly out of touch with the state.
This is clear in the campaign email I got from Curtis just the other day.
Lately Curtis has been barnstorming the state, drumming up support, and especially talking about the issues – something that scares the pants off our major Republican candidates here.
Anyway, one of those issues is education, and on that I know Amanda Curtis is far and ahead of Steve Daines. How do I know this? Curtis is drowning in debt.
To him they're just a bother – one more impediment to his coronation in November. Yes, Curtis is in touch with Montana while Steve Daines is wildly out of touch with the state.
This is clear in the campaign email I got from Curtis just the other day.
Lately Curtis has been barnstorming the state, drumming up support, and especially talking about the issues – something that scares the pants off our major Republican candidates here.
Anyway, one of those issues is education, and on that I know Amanda Curtis is far and ahead of Steve Daines. How do I know this? Curtis is drowning in debt.
Montana’s Student Loan Crisis
It’s no surprise that Montana students have it rough these days. Beer prices are going up at the same time drinks at the bar are getting more expensive. To top it all off, student loans are being taken out more than ever.
“Today, forty million people are dealing with $1.2 trillion in outstanding student debt – including 139,000 Montanans,” Curtis says in her email. “Tuition costs are up a staggering 500 percent since 1985. In Montana, students graduate with an average debt of $27,475.”
Now, I know Steve Daines is out of touch with Montana…mainly because he graduated from Montana State University in 1985. If we want to go with Curtis’ figures, school would have been 500% less expensive for Steve Daines.
Well, let’s take a look at the MSU catalog and see just how much a BS in Chemical Engineering would cost, huh?
“Today, forty million people are dealing with $1.2 trillion in outstanding student debt – including 139,000 Montanans,” Curtis says in her email. “Tuition costs are up a staggering 500 percent since 1985. In Montana, students graduate with an average debt of $27,475.”
Now, I know Steve Daines is out of touch with Montana…mainly because he graduated from Montana State University in 1985. If we want to go with Curtis’ figures, school would have been 500% less expensive for Steve Daines.
Well, let’s take a look at the MSU catalog and see just how much a BS in Chemical Engineering would cost, huh?
Montana State University Tuition and Fees in 2014
So going from the nice table on the MSU tuition and fees website page, we can see that with books and a place to live the grand total will be $16,430 a year, which at four years like Daines did, would be $65,720.
Daines prides himself on saying how he "put himself through college," but I have a feeling he didn’t make $65,000. No, it’s more like that was 500% less, making his college costs about $3,286 a year, for a grand total of $13,144…or $3,286 less than a student now pays for just…one…year.
Boy, I don’t know whether to feel dizzy, cry, or get sick reading that!
I know one person running for the U.S. Senate does know this problem exists, however, and that makes me feel good. Yes, Amanda Curtis has gone through the ringer we call education in America today and she’s come out scarred and wounded, as she makes clear in her email:
Daines prides himself on saying how he "put himself through college," but I have a feeling he didn’t make $65,000. No, it’s more like that was 500% less, making his college costs about $3,286 a year, for a grand total of $13,144…or $3,286 less than a student now pays for just…one…year.
Boy, I don’t know whether to feel dizzy, cry, or get sick reading that!
I know one person running for the U.S. Senate does know this problem exists, however, and that makes me feel good. Yes, Amanda Curtis has gone through the ringer we call education in America today and she’s come out scarred and wounded, as she makes clear in her email:
This is an issue I have experienced personally. Starting from humble beginnings, I took out student loans. I received Pell Grants. I worked multiple jobs to pay for my education. I was lucky, got a good job out of college, and as it stands today, I still have more than $20,000 in student loan debt.
College costs? Fuck...we're millionaires! I know exactly what Curtis is talking about. I had $31,000 in student loan debt when I graduated, but I’ve since gotten that down to $13,000 or so. That still means I’ve got that damn monthly payment, which is money I can’t spend in the local economy, on a mortgage, new car…whatever.
Thank God I got Pell Grants each year or I’d have even more debt. I waited until I was 24-years-old before going back to school full-time, for I didn’t have to claim my parents’ income on my student loan application and could get more Pell Grant money.
That saved my ass, but that’s not something Daines would know about – remember, his college costs for four years were less that a student today is paying for one.
It’s simply absurd, and it’s also absurd to think Steve Daines will care about education one iota when he’s in Congress.
Montana students will continue to suffer under a mountain of debt while he and his Wall Street cronies laugh all the way to the bank, soaring student interest rate charts shining in their eyes.
Excuse me while I go be sick now.
Thank God I got Pell Grants each year or I’d have even more debt. I waited until I was 24-years-old before going back to school full-time, for I didn’t have to claim my parents’ income on my student loan application and could get more Pell Grant money.
That saved my ass, but that’s not something Daines would know about – remember, his college costs for four years were less that a student today is paying for one.
It’s simply absurd, and it’s also absurd to think Steve Daines will care about education one iota when he’s in Congress.
Montana students will continue to suffer under a mountain of debt while he and his Wall Street cronies laugh all the way to the bank, soaring student interest rate charts shining in their eyes.
Excuse me while I go be sick now.
