VOA慢速英語:US Lawmakers Debate Education Issues

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語教育報道。

Lawmakers in Washington are debating education issues, including the interest 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.

華盛頓立法者正在討論教育問題，包括學生為貸款支付的利息。貸款的大學生畢業(yè)平均收入為2萬6千美元。但一些經(jīng)濟學家表示，真正的問題是控制大學成本。專家稱這些高費用傷害了整個美國經(jīng)濟。

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

約書亞·喬丹(Joshua Jordan)獲得了物理療法的博士學位。他說，“我目前負債21萬美元。”

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.

喬丹的貸款債務是普通學生的8倍。他說有時他不得不打兩份工來還款。

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.

在過去30年里，大學學費上漲速度是通貨膨脹率的2倍。各大學表示，州政府財政支持的減少迫使他們收取更高的學費。目前私立大學平均收費超過每年3萬美元。

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

特里·哈特爾(Terry Hartle )是代表美國各地數(shù)千高校的美國教育理事會的發(fā)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."

他說，“這是我們國家面臨的一個可怕的難題。我們希望越來越多人接受大專教育，我們希望更加注重學生質量和畢業(yè)。與此同時，對一代人來說，高等教育的經(jīng)費來源一直在削減。

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.

專家擔心，大學學費高會使得來自貧困家庭的優(yōu)秀學生上大學的可能性減小，這意味著能夠幫助提高經(jīng)濟增長的科學家、工程師和其他人會更少。同時一項調(diào)查顯示，一些學生擔心償還數(shù)千美元貸款而推遲了結婚和生育。

Peter Mazareas is with the College Savings Foundation.

Peter Mazareas就職于大學儲蓄基金。

"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.

他說，“這些學生不會給經(jīng)濟做貢獻，他們會回家，住在家里。他們不會買車，不會買房。所以短期內(nèi)會造成多重影響。”

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

喬治敦大學的勞動經(jīng)濟學家安東尼·卡內(nèi)瓦(Anthony Carnevale)表示，目前的制度削弱了整個國家的經(jīng)濟增長。

"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."

他說，“未能培養(yǎng)大專人才對經(jīng)濟增長的影響是非常嚴重的。如果我們能滿足社會對大專人才的需求，經(jīng)濟學家預測每年的國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值將增加5000億美元，這樣人們就有更多錢可以花。”

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

與此同時，物理治療師喬丹稱他的家庭并不富裕，根本不可能支付他的教育費用。

"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."

他說，“如果沒有學生貸款，我就沒法開創(chuàng)自己的職業(yè)生涯。”

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

所以對喬丹來說，他的龐大債務是值得的。

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.

教育部最近報告稱，年齡在25到29歲之間獲得大學學位的美國人從1995年的四分之一提高到了現(xiàn)在的三分之一。