In a conference call with various college newspapers on Feb. 2, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan promoted President Obama’s college affordability plan.
The plan is one facet of Obama’s attempt to reconnect with younger voters, who played a large part in his 2008 election. Prior to the announcement of the college affordability plan, Obama had put in place a new policy that caps student loan repayments at 10 percent of monthly disposable income after graduation.
President Obama announced the college affordability plan during the Jan. 24th State of the Union address. The plan has many aspects, ranging from student loan reform, increased transparency in college financing and a new program for colleges called the First in the World competition, based on the Race to the Top program previously used in public elementary schools.
The ultimate goal of the competition is for the U.S. to be first globally in college graduation rates by 2020. The US currently ranks 16th internationally in college graduation, with only 42 percent of adults aged 25 to 34 earning college degrees.
“I think creating a grant competition will be a great incentive for colleges to keep costs down,” says Sharanya Shankar ’13, who had the opportunity to attend the State of the Union through her semester in Washington program.
In the address, Obama said, “At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July.”
Obama went on to call on states, as well as colleges and universities, to do their part by working to keep costs down. “Higher education can’t be a luxury,” he said. “It is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.”
“I think it’s about time that the President proposes a bill on higher education,” says Shankar. Cori Magnusson ’13 agrees. While she is concerned about where the money will come from, “I definitely think it’s a good idea,” she says.
Obama took his plan on the road, speaking at the University of Michigan on Jan. 27. In his address, he called for an expansion of work-study jobs. “Congress needs to give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years,” he said in his address at the University of Michigan.
The conference call was another way for the Obama administration to spread the message to a wider audience.
Biden spoke of the need for the college affordability plan in his remarks. “The basic American promise is to live a basic, middle class existence,” he said. “There are two essential elements of this. One is owning your own home, the other is sending your kids to school.”
“At a time when we’re competing in the world, and 62 percent of all the jobs in the next decade are going to require a degree past high school, it makes no sense to price kids out of school,” he said.
Biden particularly focused on student loan debt. He echoed Obama’s call for Congress to keep student loan interest rates at 3.4 percent, rather than allowing them to double this summer. “Student debt limits your ability to choose what you do when you graduate,” said Biden.
Biden also enumerated the details of the First in the World competition, which Obama had announced in his address at the University of Michigan. “We’re going to launch a Race to the Top program for college affordability,” Obama said. “We’re telling states, if you can find new ways to bring down the cost of college and make it easier graduate, we’ll help you do it.”
One of the main aspects of the First in the World competition is a fair formula, to be developed by the Department of Education. A school’s endowment will be factored into the formula and colleges and universities that meet the criteria will have access to an addition one billion dollars in federal funding.
The college affordability plan will also increase Perkins Loans, Pell Grants, and work-study programs.
Cara Murphy ’14 is concerned with how schools could be penalized if they don’t cut costs. “The dividend [for cutting costs] will end up on the shoulders of students in higher tuition and reduced services,” she says. Ultimately, though, Murphy thinks that the First in the World competition is the way to go. “I like the bonuses, and think that there should be even more money toward that initiative,” she says.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was also on the conference call. The key to college affordability, according to him, is shared responsibility between colleges and the government.
“We need universities to do the right thing in these tough economic times, to make sure students get a great value,” said Duncan. “The goal is not just access; it’s all about attainment.”
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