“This country is only going to be as strong as our next generation. Those who work hard should have the chance to succeed in the 21st century”, said President Obama, but we need a “better bargain for the middle class”. With the loss of so many manufacturing jobs, and with more high-tech jobs on the way, “higher education is still the best ticket to upward mobility”. But watch the ticket price! We have to stop the graft in so many of our consumer venues, from healthcare to education. There’s a “crisis in terms of college affordability and student debt; college has never been more expensive. Over the past three decades, the average tuition at a public four-year college has gone up by more than 250 percent; a typical family’s income has gone up 16 percent. The average student who borrows money for college now graduates owing more than $26,000; some owe a lot more than that. The price of not getting a degree lasts a lifetime.” So yes, I like that President Obama plans to “cap loan payments at 10 percent of monthly income for borrowers who are trying to responsibly manage their federal student loan debt”. And over the next few years Obama plans to work with Congress to change how federal aid is allocated to colleges. He’s already changed loan programs, to cut out the banks as middle men, helping student monies go farther than before, and he’s setting up consumer Watchdogs to help students not get ripped off. Check out one site at StudentAid.gov. He’s “proposing new major reforms that will shake up the current system, create better incentives for colleges to do more with less, and deliver better value for students and their families”. He plans to “partner with states to make higher education a higher priority in their budgets, and to ask more of students who are receiving financial aid. Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio are already offering more funding to colleges that do a better job of preparing students for graduation and a job. Michigan is rewarding schools that keep tuition increases low”; so some states are already changing their incentive structures. Obama is “challenging all states to come up with new and innovative ways to fund their colleges in ways that drive better results”. He wants to see “all the stakeholders in education, the students, parents, businesses, college administrators and professors work on this process”. “In the face of greater and greater global competition, in a knowledge-based economy, a great education is more important than ever!”
This information and quotes excerpted from the White House transcript (printed in Washington Post, Answer Sheet) from talk given by President Barack Obama on August 23, 2013 in Buffalo, New York.
Sep 12 2013
How do you feel about Obama’s College Affordability Plan?
“This country is only going to be as strong as our next generation. Those who work hard should have the chance to succeed in the 21st century”, said President Obama, but we need a “better bargain for the middle class”. With the loss of so many manufacturing jobs, and with more high-tech jobs on the way, “higher education is still the best ticket to upward mobility”. But watch the ticket price! We have to stop the graft in so many of our consumer venues, from healthcare to education. There’s a “crisis in terms of college affordability and student debt; college has never been more expensive. Over the past three decades, the average tuition at a public four-year college has gone up by more than 250 percent; a typical family’s income has gone up 16 percent. The average student who borrows money for college now graduates owing more than $26,000; some owe a lot more than that. The price of not getting a degree lasts a lifetime.” So yes, I like that President Obama plans to “cap loan payments at 10 percent of monthly income for borrowers who are trying to responsibly manage their federal student loan debt”. And over the next few years Obama plans to work with Congress to change how federal aid is allocated to colleges. He’s already changed loan programs, to cut out the banks as middle men, helping student monies go farther than before, and he’s setting up consumer Watchdogs to help students not get ripped off. Check out one site at StudentAid.gov. He’s “proposing new major reforms that will shake up the current system, create better incentives for colleges to do more with less, and deliver better value for students and their families”. He plans to “partner with states to make higher education a higher priority in their budgets, and to ask more of students who are receiving financial aid. Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio are already offering more funding to colleges that do a better job of preparing students for graduation and a job. Michigan is rewarding schools that keep tuition increases low”; so some states are already changing their incentive structures. Obama is “challenging all states to come up with new and innovative ways to fund their colleges in ways that drive better results”. He wants to see “all the stakeholders in education, the students, parents, businesses, college administrators and professors work on this process”. “In the face of greater and greater global competition, in a knowledge-based economy, a great education is more important than ever!”
This information and quotes excerpted from the White House transcript (printed in Washington Post, Answer Sheet) from talk given by President Barack Obama on August 23, 2013 in Buffalo, New York.
By spiritspeak • Community Roundtable, Politics 0