Education: Tuition Blues

To ease them, Carter seeks aid

The memo from Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano to President Carter was urgent. "We must move quickly if we are to seize the initiative on this very hot issue," warned Califano. The issue: tuition aid for middle-income families with children in college, a form of relief that has become increasingly popular on Capitol Hill with campus costs accelerating at dizzying rates—up 77% from 1967 to 1976— and voters appealing for help. With two different plans already under consideration by Congress, each offering aid...