President Obama to Pitch Plan to Reduce Education Costs

President Barack Obama plans to hit the road on a bus tour next week in which he will provide details on his plan to reduce college costs.

Obama, beginning with the State of the union address, has made reducing the rising costs of college a priority this year. The two-day tour will make three stops in New York state – Buffalo, Syracuse and Binghamton. The tour also will make a stop in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The president’s focus on curbing the rising cost of higher education is good news for current and potential college students. Costs have increased rapidly in recent years, while student aid has been cut by many states.

Obama will use the tour as chance to provide more details on his plan to reduce the costs of higher education and improve the value of attaining a degree. The tour is part of Obama’s effort to focus on economic issues before the administration and Congress begin battles over fiscal issues, according to ABC News.

He’s previously discussed infrastructure and housing issues in other cities.

Obama signed a bipartisan bill earlier this month to restore lower student loan interest rates, the first move among many planned by the administration.

Earlier in his administration Obama urged all Americans to attend at least one year of college. Now, his goal is that “by 2020, America would once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world,” according to the White House website.

The White House site notes that for the first time in United States history, student loan debt outstrips credit card debt. The average student who took out loans owed $26,000, according to a 2010 government study.

Obama’s plan includes doubling the number of those who receive federal Pell Grants. That number already has grown by 50%, according to the Department of Education website, rising from 6 million to 9 million Pell Grant recipients.

Obama also plans to keep student interest rates low, provide aid to students in managing student debt and extend tax credits.

Obama also has proposed a federal program to reward states for lowering tuition costs.

Additionally, according to the White House website, the Obama Administration plans to strengthen the community college system and improve the “transparency and accountability” of college costs. One measure calls for a “financial aid shopping sheet” that would allow potential students to easily compare the terms of various financial aid loans.

The White House website makes it clear that affordable education is key for employment growth in the 21st Century.

According to the White House site, “Earning a post-secondary degree or credential is no longer just a pathway to opportunity for a talented few; rather, it is a prerequisite for the growing jobs of the new economy.”

“Over this decade, employment in jobs requiring education beyond a high school diploma will grow more rapidly than employment in jobs that do not; of the 30 fastest growing occupations, more than half require postsecondary education. With the average earnings of college graduates at a level that is twice as high as that of workers with only a high school diploma, higher education is now the clearest pathway into the middle class.”

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