Obama plans to jump-start community colleges

President lays out aim to increase grants and forgive student loans

By Estela Fuentes
The Guardsman

President Barack Obama urged the Senate to pass a bill that would revitalize community colleges on Jan. 27 in his 2010 State of the Union address.

Obama said having a high school diploma does not guarantee finding any type of employment and that things need to be done to help the nation’s citizens develop skills and get a better education for our nation to succeed as a whole.

“I urge the Senate to follow the House and pass a bill that will revitalize our community colleges, which are a career pathway to the children of so many working families,” Obama said.

Obama said the bill should contain some specific measures to help struggling low- and middle-class citizens obtain a higher education. The first should be increasing Pell Grants and the second should issue a $10,000 credit to cover four years of college for all working families.

As for student loans, he wants unwarranted subsidies that go to banks to be eliminated and payments capped at 10 percent of a students’ income. He also said student loans should be forgiven after 20 years, but if students decide to work in any type of public service, the loans should be forgiven after 10 years.

“In the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college,” Obama said.