I just want to add a few comments. I vote, yet I feel, as I'm sure many do, that I have absolutely no control over what happens both before and after the elections to those we have elected. This is primarily, I feel, due to PACs, of which most average Americans, I think, are not members. It all comes down to the HAVES and the HAVENOTS, doesn't it ultimately, and this is despite the fact that the HAVENOTS far outnumber the HAVES, and I'm sure the numbers are growing.

We were unable to change what Reagan did to the system...it has just gotten worse since then. All we could do is keep going to work and hoping we made a difference, and we did! There is plenty we can do individually, and I'm sure those who are doing it should be congratulated. Should this keep us from trying? Absolutely not! Peace.

Someone mentioned Pell grants, and it rang a bell in my dusty brain. I did a quick search and settled on Wikipedia's entry on the subject, knowing that their reliability is sometimes questionable due to user amendments. That said, here is what I found:
"Pell Grant
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The Pell Grant program is a type of post-secondary education federal aid provided by the Federal government of the United States, and is the largest need-based grant aid program in the country. It is named after Senator Claiborne Pell, though its actual name is the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant program. They are awarded based on a "financial need" formula determined by the U.S. Congress using criteria submitted through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Because of the high levels of need required to obtain a Pell grant, receipt of them is often used by researchers as a proxy for low-income student attendance.

Federal budget legislation passed in early 2006 cut the federal financial aid budget by $12.5 billion. While the maximum Pell Grant legislative limit was raised to $5,800 through 2011, maximum Pell grant awards were not funded at this level. The maximum award available to students has been frozen at $4,050 since 2003-04.

For 2006-07, the maximum Pell grant available to students remains $4,050. Due to high increases in the cost of post-secondary education and slow or no growth in the Pell grant program, the value of Pell grants has eroded significantly over time. In 2005-06, the maximum Pell grant covered one-third of the yearly cost of higher education at a public four-year institution; twenty years ago, it covered 60% of a student's cost of attendance, this however also allows a greater number of students to benefit.

President Bush signed legislation into law on February 15, 2007, to fund most federal programs, including education programs, for the remainder of the 2007 fiscal year and increased the maximum Pell Grant by $260 to $4,310. This is the first increase to the maximum award since 2003. The rise in the maximum Pell Grant award is effective on July 1, 2007."

Hardly a drop in the bucket of higher education, sadly.
I do want mention that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." And then, you just keep putting one foot down after the other. I enjoyed the time I spent working with the poor, and doing the best with what I've had to work with at any given time. Can we as individuals do better? Yes. Can we as a nation do better? Not until we find a way to effectively break the stranglehold that people of wealth and power have on the way things are done.