Obama misses the mark on higher education

As college students, most of us can agree that getting a college degree is important.

Most of us can also agree that getting more people through college should be a major goal of United States policy.

After all, the world’s most advanced countries — including Japan, Korea and Israel — have more college graduates than the U.S.

In 2008, President Obama was elected, openly telling the American people that he would make America the world leader in college graduates.

Five years later, we’ve slipped from 12th to 14th in the world.

For the past three years, Obama has been forced to play defense, having to stop the Republican-controlled House of Representatives from slashing student aid or raising loan rates. From halting bills in the Senate to passing executive orders, Obama’s done everything possible to maintain the status quo.

Unfortunately, the status quo is nothing short of dismal.

Since Obama can’t get a comprehensive education bill through the House, he called upon the nation’s universities to open more opportunities for low-income students.
Unfortunately, the President’s request has no political or legal bite.

It’s an empty request.

Since no policy is in place, Obama is depending on universities to let more poor students attend college for cheap or for free.

The Editorial Board believes expensive college costs are a substantial part of the quagmire that’s pulling low-income Americans even further down.

We also believe the politicians in Washington, D.C., could do more for their constituents than ask for a favor really, really nicely. Currently, we face a national deficit — a lack of jobs, both for college graduates and for non-graduates.

And at this point, many of us have to ask if a college degree is even worth the time or money.

The best way to make college degrees worth anything is to create sustainable jobs that allow citizens of any income to better themselves.

The President can ask universities to allow anyone and everyone to attend all he wants, but that’s not going to make college degrees worth anything.

The Editorial Board wants the government to work to get low-income students into universities where they can study degree-demanding fields, such as chemistry, engineering or economics.

We also want the government to work with states to create long-lasting, sustainable apprenticeships and job training programs.

Instead of condemning people born into unfortunate circumstances to squander time away at a minimum wage job at a fast-food restaurant, we can offer them something better. Phlebotomists, construction workers and pharmaceutical assistants are all examples of jobs that are possible through job training programs.

We understand that the President’s gesture was well-intended.

He and his wife’s journey to Ivy League degrees is both impressive and powerful.

But there isn’t a point to getting students to college if our country can’t provide them a career after the journey.

­— opinion@idsnews.com
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