Posted on 03/14/2015 5:18:15 AM PDT by maggief
President Obama on Saturday urged Americans to sign his new “Student Aid Bill of Rights” and collectively work towards reducing the cost of higher education.
“In an economy increasingly built on innovation, the most important skill you can sell is your knowledge,” Obama said in his weekly address Saturday. “That’s why higher education is, more than ever, the surest ticket to the middle class.”
“But just when it’s never been more important, it’s also never been more expensive,” he added. “The average undergrad who borrows to pay for college ends up graduating with about $28,000 in student loan debt.”
The president touted several of his initiatives aimed at lowering that price tag. He cited expanding tax credits, giving more Pell Grants, reforming student loan programs and pushing for free community college as examples of progress. Despite these, Obama said, such measures were not enough.
“But all of us — elected officials, universities, business leaders — everybody needs to do more to bring down college costs,” he said. “Which is why this week, I unveiled another way that we can help more Americans afford college. It doesn’t involve any new spending or bureaucracy. It’s a simple declaration of values — what I call a ‘Student Aid Bill of Rights.’ ”
Obama said the document lists four principles. It starts by saying every student deserves access to a “quality, affordable education.”
From there, it states students who take out loans should have access to “resources to pay for college” and an “affordable repayment plan.”
Finally, it said borrowers deserve “quality customer service,” “reliable information” and “fair treatment” during the repayment process.
The president asked Americans to sign his new declaration and then share it with as many friends, family members and students as possible.
“In America, a higher education cannot be a privilege reserved for only the few,” Obama said. “It has to be available to everybody who’s willing to work for it.”
The “Student Aid Bill of Rights” is available at WhiteHouse.gov/CollegeOpportunity.
"What is college?"
Correct!, for $400.
No, the lack of government MEDDLING is the surest ticket.
Obama knows soooo little.
No, the lack of government MEDDLING is the surest ticket.
Obama knows soooo little.
“And those opportunities have been pretty much gutted by offshoring much of our manufacturing.”
You forgot the end of that sentence...’due to outrageous demands and work rules imposed by unions.’
Scott Walker doing pretty good without your precious 4 year degree. In fact, when he is POTUS, he will demonstrate how common sense and Christian morality trump your commie education and your Islamic values.
You will enjoy this. The true purpose of schooling, as explained by a former NY State Teacher of the Year.
yeah, nothing screams middle class America quite like a degree in transgender pottery with a 250 thousand dollar student loan debt.....
Cripple Creek, you are right as usual. Now a BA or even most BSs may get you a middle class job. At one time either darn near guaranteed your entry into the upper middle class or even the upper class.
As for those tradesmen and makers jobs, there is not near enough people to fill them, therefore most tradesmen move pretty quickly into the upper middle class. With all those near worthless college diplomas, we no longer have people who can fix anything.
Think back 30+ years; Did you ever hear of a trade called “Handyman”? I was damn near 70 years old before I hired anyone to make repairs to my house or vehicles. Now days a “handyman” can make a pretty darned good living.
The college industry is not going to like this.
So how was Obama able to pay for his educational expenses? For someone who often personalizes his political views and lectures us on the topic of student aid, he sure neglects to mention how he was able to fund his own education. He is reticent on the matter.
Having a sheepskin may offer entry job opportunities early on in one’s career but you’re right, after that its not so much what you know as what you produce that allows you to enter the middle class. A degree is an accomplishment, but its just one accomplishment in a long string of producing results and achieving outcomes that matter that propel your career. Production in any field generally leads to success.
Why do they deserve it?
I don’t believe my great great grandfather ever held a “job” in the sense we think of today. He was primarily a farmer to feed his family. During the winters he logged his land to produce lumber for his own use and to sell. He also spent his winter nights making furniture to sell.
My great grandfather did draw a paycheck in his youth but he was mostly a contractor. After WWI he was a surveyor in Michigan’s upper peninsula for putting power lines in. When he finished mapping the route he went back to the starting point and became a lineman. When that was done he came south and became an electrician doing everything from hanging the wires to wiring homes.
Spot on.
The solution comes from getting the government out of the education business. Same thing with health care. Government creates a problem and then comes along to fix it, thus creating a new problem.
Did you find any very good videos or playlists for statistics and would you share the links? I have the same need.
The media fully vetted Obama back in 2007-8. Plus the Illinois media carefully scrutinized his background as a state legislator and during his run for the Senate. They grilled him as if he were a GOP candidate named Jack Ryan. I mean they really dug into his past, including suing to get sealed records opened. All for the public good.
Skip all that. Get government out of the education business all together. Their record is of failure, not success.
Last night I listened to a Dem committeeman opine about how a charter school started up and took all the smart kids. Now the poor public school teachers, with all their certificates and degrees in education, were stuck with the dummies. These kids couldn’t read or do math. Go figure.
John Taylor Gatto would be the NYT bestselling author, on every news show and media outlet in America if he were a transvestite teacher, but no he had to go and point out that the education establishment is creating idiots and he started doing that over 35 years ago, IIRC.
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