US Lawmakers Debate Education Issues

美国立法者讨论教育问题

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。

Lawmakers in Washington are debating education issues, including the interest rate that students pay for loans. College students who take loans graduate earning an average of $26,000. But some economists say the real issue is controlling the costs of college. Experts say these high costs are hurting the whole economy.

华盛顿立法者正在讨论教育问题，包括学生为贷款支付的利率。贷款的大学生毕业平均收入为2万6千美元。但一些经济学家表示，真正的问题是控制大学成本。专家称这些高费用伤害了整个美国经济。

Joshua Jordan earned a doctorate degree in physical therapy. "I am currently in debt for $210,000."

约书亚·乔丹（Joshua Jordan）获得了物理疗法的博士学位。他说，“我目前负债21万美元。”

Joshua Jordan has eight times the loan debt of the average student. He says he has sometimes need to work two jobs to pay his bills.

乔丹的贷款债务是普通学生的8倍。他说有时他不得不打两份工来还款。

For the past 30 years, college tuition has been increasing at twice the rate of inflation. Universities say decreasing financial support from state governments forces them to charge higher tuition. Private colleges now charge an average of more than $30,000 a year.

在过去30年里，大学学费上涨速度是通货膨胀率的2倍。各大学表示，州政府财政支持的减少迫使他们收取更高的学费。目前私立大学平均收费超过每年3万美元。

Terry Hartle speaks for The American Council on Education which represents thousands of colleges across the United States.

特里·哈特尔（Terry Hartle ）是代表美国各地数千高校的美国教育理事会的发言人。

"It's a terrible conundrum that we face as a country. We want more and more post-secondary education. We want more focus on academic quality and graduation. At the same point, the funding sources for higher education have been diminishing for a generation."

他说，“这是我们国家面临的一个可怕的难题。我们希望越来越多人接受大专教育，我们希望更加注重学生质量和毕业。与此同时，对一代人来说，高等教育的经费来源一直在削减。

Experts worry that the high cost of college makes it less likely that good students from poor families will attend college, this means fewer scientists, engineers and others who could help increase economic growth. And a survey shows that some students concerned about repaying thousands of dollars in loans are delaying marriage and children.

专家担心，大学学费高会使得来自贫困家庭的优秀学生上大学的可能性减小，这意味着能够帮助提高经济增长的科学家、工程师和其他人会更少。同时一项调查显示，一些学生担心偿还数千美元贷款而推迟了结婚和生育。

Peter Mazareas is with the College Savings Foundation.

Peter Mazareas就职于大学储蓄基金。

"These students will not contribute to the economy. They will go home and live at home. They won't buy cars. They won't invest in housing, so there is a real multiplier effect that is short term.

他说，“这些学生不会给经济做贡献，他们会回家，住在家里。他们不会买车，不会买房。所以短期内会造成多重影响。”

Georgetown University Labor Economist Anthony Carnevale says the current system cuts economic growth for the whole country.

乔治敦大学的劳动经济学家安东尼·卡内瓦（Anthony Carnevale）表示，目前的制度削弱了整个国家的经济增长。

"The effects on economic growth [of failing to produce post secondary talent] are substantial. If we had kept up with demand for post secondary talent, economists estimate that we would be at about $500 billion more per year in gross domestic product, that is people would have more money to spend."

他说，“未能培养大专人才对经济增长的影响是非常严重的。如果我们能满足社会对大专人才的需求，经济学家预测每年的国内生产总值将增加5000亿美元，这样人们就有更多钱可以花。”

Meanwhile, Physical Therapist Joshua Jordan says his family is not wealthy and could not have paid for his education.

与此同时，物理治疗师乔丹称他的家庭并不富裕，根本不可能支付他的教育费用。

"There would have been no way I could have created a career for myself that I wanted to do without the use of student loans."

他说，“如果没有学生贷款，我就没法开创自己的职业生涯。”

So for Joshua Jordan, his large debt was worth it.

所以对乔丹来说，他的庞大债务是值得的。

The Department of Education recently reported that today one-third of Americans between ages of 25 and 29 who earn college degrees that is an increase from one-fourth in 1995.

教育部最近报告称，年龄在25到29岁之间获得大学学位的美国人从1995年的四分之一提高到了现在的三分之一。

And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English, I'm Onka Dekker.