Obama’s much-discussed economic stimulus plan — the fancy-shmancy American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — promises all kinds of tenets for the downward-spiraling economy….. one of which may help lighten the burden on today’s university-goers. This is truly music to the debt-ridden college kid! (Too bad I’m graduating. *knock on wood)

The hope is this: Millions of students & their fams will receive help in affording pricey college tuitions in the coming year. Highlights? Pell Grant funding is to increase right away, and the legislation will also provide a partially refundable college tuition tax credit of $2,500.

A press release from the House Education & Labor Committee called this “an important down payment on President Obama’s goal of making college more affordable and accessible.”

So here’s the nitty-gritty:

The Pell Grant maximum award will go up by $500. Approximately 7 million college kids will reap the benefits.

The tax credit of $2,500, termed the “American Opportunity,” is predicted to help out another 4 million students.

And to make good on the American Dream — YES, it still exists! never mind the unemployment rate! — $200 million will go into creating more work-study opps for university-goers. Jobs for an additional 133,000 students!

So the logical question to ask now… is NoDoz ready to see its pills fly off the shelves? Is Green Mountain ready? More access to education (often) means more demand for caffeine/alertness remedies/shenanigans.

On a serious note, college and universities can be economic powerhouses to their communities. I study at a tiny, liberal arts campus, a.k.a. Oberlin College, hippie-high-heaven, and with many car-less students from both coasts of the nation, the student population helps keep some local (also-within-walking-distance-of-campus) businesses afloat. Moving on to some real stats, the University of Houston reportedly generates over $3 BILLION in local economic activity and 24,000 local jobs. All 14 of Nebraska’s private universities and colleges snap up $521 million in goods & services… the list goes on.

With all the money shtuff aside, this really is one step forward in terms of access to education. Tuition increases year-over-year are rising much, much faster than annual salaries. Recent college grads are leaving school with mountains of debt — while a starting salary of $50K might sound excellent, it’s not unusual for a large chunk of that to go toward hefty student loans. Anything to lighten the burden, for sure, is lightening the burden. Kudos!

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