Bill Clinton: “Well, we're not. You may be doing it in Illinois, and at the national level--I don't know that you are. I'm not accusing…”

“Well, we're not. You may be doing it in Illinois, and at the national level--I don't know that you are. I'm not accusing anybody or anything. [Laughter] But let me tell you this: For several years student aid levels were frozen at the national level, so that, in effect, they were being cut because inflation meant that the money didn't go as far anymore. This year I have asked the Congress to put more money into the Pell Grant program, which is the college scholarship program for low-in- come kids that comes out of the Federal Government and also--did you give up on your question? And also, also, we have reorganized the college loan program. This is very important. I want you all to listen to this. We have reorganized the college loan program so that now you can borrow money at lower interest rates, and you can pay it back, no matter how much you borrow, as a percentage of what you earn after you go to work. Now, a lot of people quit, drop out of school because they worry about the cost of it and they worry about the burden of paying the loans back. So now we are giving everybody who wants it an option. You can pay your loan back basically on a regular loan repayment schedule. But suppose you want to do something that doesn't pay a lot of money, at least when you begin. Suppose you want to become a schoolteacher in the beginning, and you know you're not going to be a millionaire. You could pay your loans back, but you can't pay a whole lot at once. Under our new proposal, you can borrow the money at lower interest rates and you can pay it back over a longer period of time, a smaller amount every year based on your income. So there will never be a reason not to go to college. In addition to that, this year 20,000 young Americans, and 3 years from now, 100,000 young Americans will be able to earn several thousand dollars in scholarship money by participating in our community service program. So I am trying to make it easier for people to go to college, because it makes a huge difference, as I just quoted to you the numbers, in your employability and your income. Go ahead. Public Housing”