You know you’re in for a major recessionmas when Oprah Winfrey—whose “favorite things” from the 2007 holiday season included necessities like a $3,800 refrigerator with a built-in, high-definition television—instructed her followers last week to “grow your own gifts” using backyard garden tomatoes to make jars of salsa and spaghetti sauce.
In these tough times, it seems like everyone is looking for ways to save money during the holiday season. So, I’m here to present you with a tip for a great DYI gift that keeps on giving. After all, nothing says “good long-term investment” like a college education.
How do you give the gift of college? I’m so glad you asked. The following is a step-by-step guide to giving the “it” gift of the 2008 holiday season.
Step 1: Go higher up than Santa
Start by sending a message to your elected officials (click here to write to Barack Obama and here to write to your Congressman and here to get a list of senators’ email addresses) alerting them to the fact that the future of our national economy hinges on our ability to provide quality higher education to students today.
Step 2: Know the facts
In your letter or email, you can mention this alarming report released on Tuesday by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which details how other counties are soaring ahead of the U.S. in terms of college graduates.
Unlike our competitors, the educational strength of the American workforce now lies with adults ages 35 to 64 instead of with younger employees. And the gap in educational attainment will make it very difficult for us to compete in the global economy, which leads me to…
Step 3: Make reasonable predictions about the future
That our national progress in providing college access to students of modest means may be eroding is not news to public college administrators in cash-strapped states where proposals for double-digit tuition increases are already on the table, according to the American Council on Education. To make matters worse, two of the country’s largest public college systems, California and Florida, will cap enrollment for next year, effectively closing the doors to tens of thousands of qualified four-year college students. Those who do manage to enroll may have to spend more time getting their degrees because of overcrowded classes and fewer course options.
Step 4: Reap the Rewards
By contacting your legislators to give the gift of college, you’ll also be giving the gift of higher wages and lower unemployment, as you can see from this graph. 
Furthermore, college-educated citizens are more likely to live longer and avoid divorce.
In fact, a college education is so fabulous that you’ll want to give one to every student in America. Your family and friends will thank you.
–
Kidz Today is a column about youth and education by Joie Jager-Hyman
Very nice post. I can’t believe Oprah is recommending home grown tomato gifts this year. I didn’t realize things had gotten THAT bad.
Yep, things are pretty bad out there. Harvard (the “Oprah” of universities, if you will) just announced that they lost at least 22 percent of their $36.9 billion endowment in the first four months of the school’s fiscal year ALONE.
You know it’s bad when Harvard has to take a “hard look at hiring, staffing levels and compensation.”
They actually lost more $$ in 4 months than the entire endowments of all but 6 American universities!
For anyone interested, you can learn more about these developments here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122832139322576023.html
Wow! Shocking and yet not so unbelievable. As a principal of a high school for recent immigrant kids, I am concerned about my students’ opportunities for entrance in colleges like those in the CUNY system. These students are currently scrambling for scholarship money and concerned about paying for college in these economically hard times. Thanks for putting all of these staggering facts into one article – I hope this reaches a broad audience – only our united voices can make change happen.
Thank you so much for this perspective Mr. Michael!