Obama Has Intriguing Ideas for Helping You Go to College

A piece of the Obama platform that I was not very familiar with before this weekend is the American Opportunity Tax Credit. I was listening to the Senator's speech he was giving in Maine on Saturday and this program really caught my attention.

Here is the text off of the campaign website:

"Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year's tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due. "

What is not covered in this statement is what really caught my attention during the speech, which he also gave the next day outside D.C. in Alexandria, VA. Obama said "and we are going to ask for something in return." He went on to explain that in order to receive these much needed funds, the student would need to contribute back to society through community service of their choice. While details were not given as far as the level of contribution or what qualifies, I found this incredibly interesting and saw it as very much a fresh idea. I for one am not a fan of "forced" volunteering, which is what I assume is what some will call it. But the idea of motivating young people to give back to not the government, but society and our country in order to get a helping hand is fantastic.

These are the kinds of ideas that you don't usually hear, and even now they are getting lost in the major platform pieces that are largely idealist and rhetorical statements from all candidates - because they pretty much have no choice. But listen closely for the little things and sometimes they can really show how one candidate can provide a different outlook on solving our problems that provides for a true win-win situation for our citizens.

Give back to others in society and you can go to college. Kind of like "Pay It Forward". Intriguing and inspiring, it can work.