Senator Bill Frist's Smart Grant

Senator Frist is the first public official that I know that has just recently announced the threat from China and India. Senator Frist's Smart Grant provides incentive funds for undergraduates to pursue degrees in science, math, technology, and foreign languages:

"China and India are generating scientists and engineers at a furious pace while America lags dangerously behind," said Frist. "These SMART Grants and Academic Competitiveness Grants help close America's competitiveness gap and prepare American students for the high-paying, high-skill jobs that drive the 21st century economy. I fought hard to pass this worthy program, and I'm proud we were able to boost funding levels to provide low-income students real incentives to pursue time-intensive math and science degrees. This legislation is a critical national security tool that will also sustain America's global legacy as a land of innovation, imagination, and initiative."

I think this is a great gesture on behalf of Frist but what about the middle class students. I feel that they are worthy to be invested in as well as the low income students. Don't we want to graduate students faster instead of later? I hear from undergraduates all the time that they have to work so they are on the 5 or 6 year plan to get their undergraduate to degree. These students are very motivated and I feel that if there is money to be awarded, they should be considered too.

In today's Free Lance-Star there was an excellent and motivating story about a single parent at 17 who earned her PhD in biochemistry at 27. If it was not for the help of Kylene Hall's family, she would have never made it.