President Obama recognizes the issues surrounding higher education.
Higher education gets attention of White House
By: Beth Kolakowski
President Barack Obama’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Plan highlight many areas in which America needs a bit of assistance. Touching upon everything from tax cuts to the economy, the Recovery Plan, also known as the infamous “Stimulus Package,” devotes a portion of the $825 billion to higher education. President Obama believes that raising the standards in higher education is the key to keeping our country competitive. Between his views, his administration and the United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, our government is committed to making higher education a priority on the agenda.
When President Obama addressed Congress on February 24, 2009, he said “by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” He set this ambitious goal for America, and plans on following through in several different ways. Obama’s main goal is to make, and keep college affordable for all Americans. Over the past 25 years, college tuition has jumped more than 430 percent – while the average American income has not kept up with this. “To stay globally competitive, an educated workforce is necessary, and therefore Obama wants to combat the college affordability crisis now,” according to www.ed.gov, the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site.
One step that Obama plans to take to assist with higher education costs is to increase Pell Grants. The Pell Grants are federally awarded grants that provide “need-based grants to low-income undergraduate and certain post baccalaureate students to promote access to postsecondary education,” according to www.ed.gov. Grant amounts vary from case-to-case basis but are reliant on four things: the student’s family’s contribution, the cost of attendance, enrollment status, and the amount of time enrolled.
This past academic year, the maximum Pell Grant that was awarded totaled only $4,731. This price tag only takes care of one-third of the cost to attend a public, four-year college or university for one year. Even worse, in 2006 the federal financial aid budget was cut more than $12 billion, which makes it hard to award considerable Pell Grants to students in need. Obama plans on raising the Pell Grant maximum by $500 each year – the largest grant will be $5,550 for the 2010-2011 school year.
Junior Lindsey Giannantonio is excited that Obama plans on raising Pell Grant awards, even though she is graduating soon. “I received about $400 a year from the Pell Grant. Sure, it was enough to cover books – but that’s about it.” Giannantonio expressed her hope for education to become for affordable for “anyone and everyone who wants it.”
Obama and administration “proposed $2,500 partially refundable credit for college students and their families, ” according to www.ed.gov. While the American Opportunity Tax Credit is only for low-income students only, this margin includes about four million students. Fox explained that it is a shame to see the students work so hard in school, and have to work just as hard to stay in school.
The United States Department of Education was given $44 billion from the Stimulus Package to spend on preventing massive teacher layoffs and “driving crucial education improvements, reforms, and results for students,” according to the department. “These investments will save and create jobs in the short term, while raising achievement in the long term, U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan said.
Elizabeth Palmer, Advocacy Chair for the Garden State Student Alliance, highlighted the economy as a big burden for higher education. “Because unfortunately the students are not at the forefront of Legislator’s minds and the Governor’s minds…higher education gets cut year after year after year. We are definitely in the middle of a crisis in higher education.”
Throughout his career, President Obama has always been an advocate of education. While serving as Illinois State Senator, he helped start the Illinois Early Learning Council, and moved onto making college more affordable once elected into the United States Senate. Now, as President of the United States, he continues to support education and more specifically higher education. In addition to raising the maximum of the Pell Grant, he helped passed legislation for improvements in the Higher Education Act.
Right now, Obama has yet to make a significant impact on higher education, but he has made it very clear that he plans to, and it is rated very high on his list of priorities.
