In 1796, the last full year of George Washington’s presidency, the citizens of the United States honored their first president by celebrating his birthday, February 22nd.  From the celebration in 1796 sprung a tradition of honoring President Washington by celebrating his birthday.  By the early 1800s, wealthy Americans were celebrating Washington’s birthday with lavish parties and receptions; the average American commemorated the holiday by gathering with friends for picnics or a couple of drinks at the local bar.  Though the majority of Americans celebrated George Washington’s Birthday, it was not an official national holiday until 1880.  Many states instituted it as a state holiday, however, allowing Americans to enjoy a day off work to celebrate.

By the mid 1800s, another American president had captured the hearts of the American people: President Abraham Lincoln.  Coincidentally, Lincoln’s birthday is February 12th.  In 1865, one year after President Lincoln’s assassination, the nation officially honored his presidency and character by commemorating his birthday.  In 1880, George Washington’s birthday became a federal legal holiday, making Washington the first American to have a federal holiday named in his honor.  Though Lincoln’s birthday did not become an official federal holiday, many states began celebrating it either in addition to or in conjunction with George Washington’s birthday.  Those states that celebrated Lincoln’s birthday in conjunction with Washington’s began calling the holiday Presidents Day.

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On Monday, December 15, fifteen higher ed associations sent a letter to Congress asking that a portion of the Obama economic stimulus plan be allocated to higher education.  The letter indicates that 18 million Americans are attending higher education institutions, and since 18 million represents six percent of all Americans, a corresponding six percent of the allocation should go to higher ed.  The letter’s proposal is organized into three parts: Student Aid, Infrastructure Grants, and Additional Student Centered Recommendations.

This proposal correctly cites the number of Americans studying in higher education programs. However, the figure of 18 million includes a significant number of part-time, working adults (36% of all undergraduates and 61% of students at two year institutions), and historically, the part-time working adult cohort has been excluded or overlooked by many higher education lobbying efforts. Regrettably, this letter, although widely endorsed by a great number of reputable associations, is no exception.

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The College Board has published an annual report on college pricing since 1998.  The report looks at tuition and fees, room and board, and other related costs at colleges in the United States.  It also reviews the net price of college after subtracting financial aid grants to students.  Colleges are categorized as public four-year, public two-year, and private non-profit four year.  Data is also collected for public out of state student pricing and for-profit pricing.  (see http://www.collegeboard.com/html/costs/pricing/) 

The College Board states that all costs of college attendance are important and that often, costs such as room and board and books influence the ability of a student to afford college more so than tuition and fees.  The College Board encourages readers to cite or reproduce the data as long as they are given proper attribution, so I’ll list a few facts that I found interesting in this year’s report.

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