President Obama spoke about college affordability issues on Friday morning at the Al Glick Fieldhouse at the University of Michigan.
“This is going to be one of the most important issues that not just you face, but this country faces. How can we make sure that everybody is getting the kind of education they need to personally succeed, but also to build up this nation? In this economy, there is no greater predictor of individual success than a good education,” he said.
The crowd was over 3,000 and included Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich). Sitting on stage were Eastern Michigan University President Susan Martin, and EMU Student Body President Jelani McGadney.
“I think people have been waiting for President Obama to make a stand on these issues for four years,” McGadney said.
Obama stressed the importance of higher education to individual success and national prosperity.
“Today, the unemployment rate for Americans with a college degree or more is about half the national average. Their incomes are twice as high as those who don’t have a high school diploma,” Obama said. “College is the single most important investment you can make in your future.”
McGadney agreed with the president.
“It’s just fact that if you have a higher education, then you will have better economic prosperity,” he said.
The focus of the president’s speech was the difficulty students have in affording college.
“We still have, by far, the best network of colleges and universities in the world. Nobody else comes close,” he said. “But the challenge is it’s getting tougher and tougher to afford it. Since most of you were born, tuition and fees have more than doubled. That forces students like you to take out more loans and rack up more debt.”
Though he didn’t attend the president’s speech, Matt Gosselin, a junior at EMU, appreciated Obama’s message.
“It’s getting more expensive. I already have $35,000 in loans,” Gosselin said. “I’ll be out of debt by the time I’m 60 or 70.”
Obama spoke of his administration’s accomplishments in addressing the rising college costs. He applauded the help of
Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan in increasing federal student aid and thanked members of Michigan’s congressional delegation for their help in shifting taxpayer money from subsidies and banks to students and families through grants, lower interest rates on student loans and a cap on loan payments.
“We’ve capped student loan payments, so that nearly 1.6 million students, including a bunch of you, are only going to have to pay 10% of your monthly income towards your loans once you graduate,” Obama said.
Despite these accomplishments, the president acknowledged work still to be done and urged Congress to take action.
“Congress needs to do more. They need to stop interest rates from doubling this July,” he said. “That’s what’s scheduled to happen if Congress doesn’t act. That would not be good for you.”
Obama said Congress also needs to extend the tuition tax credit and to double the number of work-study jobs in the next 5 years.
The president stressed the roles of universities and state governments in keeping education affordable and said he intends to direct the majority of federal aid to colleges and universities that work to keep costs down.
“We should push colleges to do better,” Obama said. “We should hold them accountable if they don’t.
“States have to do their part by making higher education a priority in their budgets. Today, we’re going to launch a race to the top for college affordability. We’re telling the states, if you can find new ways to bring down the cost of college and make it easier for more students to graduate, we will help you do it.”
In a statement released after the speech, EMU President Susan Martin said, “President Obama’s emphasis on keeping higher education affordable is absolutely the right message at the right time…We are pleased to see this national focus on a critical issue for our nation’s future.”
