As we reported yesterday, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was in the area just a couple days ago as he spoke to Panorama High School students about a variety of different topics.

One of the topics that Grassley discussed related to college affordability, and in catching up with the Senator after his talk, he choose to delve deeper into what role he believes the Federal government should play in fostering collegiate education.

“Well, we still ought to continue the responsibility that we have of making college as affordable as possible.  But, I sometimes think we’re part of the problem by upping Pell Grants all the time, which I think encourages tuition increases that maybe wouldn’t otherwise occur if we weren’t considered a stop valve.”

Grassley also believes there needs to be a change in the way students and their families approach getting a college degree.  He believes education should be more about consumption.

“Students who go to college (need) to be consumers of a service called education and see it as an investment, and see that when people go to college, they get an education that is going to lead to a good-paying job and not getting an education just for the purpose of getting an education.  As important as I know education is, it is a very costly process you go through, and you’ve got to get a return on an investment or otherwise you’re wasting your time.”

To hear more from Grassley, tune-in to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County on K107 for our full conversation with the Senator during the 9am, noon and 5pm hours.