Obama addressed student journalists nationwide in a press call with college newspapers Monday morning, laying out his plan to improve the U.S. college graduation rates by 2020.
The first step is to make college more affordable, Obama said. Earlier this year, Congress passed legislation that would change how student loans were administered. Student loans would be borrowed from and handled by the federal government, as opposed to third-party lenders. That same legislation also called for the streamlining of the FAFSA application process, which would make it is easier to borrow.
Obama also referred to recent legislation that allowed students to make payment plans that would cap at 10 percent of their income. The legislation also included a loan forgiveness program that would pardon a student's loan after 10 years as long as the student goes into public service and keeps up with their minimum payments.
Orlando Rodriguez, a sophomore in film, said that many of Obama's policies regarding loans were "troublesome." He did not like the idea of the federal government absorbing student loans.
Obama also talked about how community colleges will affect the country's education.
"Our second priority is making sure that higher education creates a workforce that's ready for the new jobs of the future," Obama said. "Community colleges are going to play a critical role."
The White House will be holding a summit on community colleges to discuss whether they are educating people in relevant subjects to get jobs, he said.
The final step is up to American college students. Enrollment rates are sufficient, but more than a third of college students and more than half of minority students don't earn a degree, he said.
"That's a waste of potential, particularly if folks are racking up big debt, and then they don't even get the degree at the end," Obama said.
Obama said the government can help by assisting students working to pay for college or raising families with a college access and completion fund, which would evaluate ways to help students succeed in college. He also mentioned the highly disputed health care overhaul that allows young adults to stay on their parent's health plan until they are 26, helping students who don't have jobs with insurance options.
"The key here is that we want to open the doors of our colleges and universities to more people so they can learn, they can graduate, and they can succeed in life," Obama said.
Corrine Miller, a non-traditional student in recreational therapy, said that in this kind of economy, a lot of people are going back to school.
"People need a kind of hope," Miller said, adding that Obama's plan will benefit people going to school for economic reasons.
Colin Daileda, a student from Radford University in Virginia, asked the president if the current generation is the "lost generation" because of the economic climate and the substantial debt many students will take on after college.
The president made a comparison to the generation of the Great Depression, which had an unemployment rate of 30 percent but ended up building the most powerful economy in the world.
"Right now we're going through a tough time, but I have no doubt that you guys are going to be successful," Obama said.
No comments:
Post a Comment