College must remain a top agenda initiative for Obama
A college education, whether it be from a two-year
or a four-year school, is one of the best investments
you can make.
Last week. President Obama spoke pointedly in his
State of the Union address about the need for manu
facturing jobs to come back to the U.S., gun control
legislation, minimum wage increase, environmental
protection, immigration overhaul and the importance
of an early childhood education which could lead
down the road to enrolling in a good college.
Last Wednesday, the president chose Asheville for
what has become something of a tradition, taking the
themes'of the State Of The Union on the road the day
after, trying to rally public support for his agenda.
He spoke at Linamar Auto Plant, highlighting his
plan in support of college curricula such as Asheville-
Buncombe Technical Community College, which
teaches courses designed to help mostly older students
find jobs in specialized areas such as manufacturing.
Linamar, a company that brought in $2.86 billion in
2011 according to their website, operates manufactur
ing sites located in Canada, Mexico, Hungary, China
and France. Linamar manufactures parts and systems
for the automotive industry, energy and mobile indus
trial markets according to their website.
As the semester nears March, many UNC Asheville
students will be moving toward the daunting task of
finding a stable job that, at some point, will clear their
student loan debt.
Seventy-five percent of the public believes a col
lege education is too expensive for most Americans,
according to Pew Research reports. This remains a
Seventy-five percent of the public believes a college education is too
expensive for most Americans, according to Pew Research reports.
concern for parents when thinking about what kind of
college education they can afford for their children.
Ways to ease the burden of student debt and a
quicker way to repay loans must be a higher initiative.
According to Pew, 48 percent of students who took
out college loans find it difficult to pay them back.
A growing number of students now have to take out
loans because of economic demands on parents.
Unfortunately for many, due to the congressional
budget fights in 2011, the federal government cut Pell
Grant eligibility from 18 semesters to 12 and elimi
nated grants for future summer studies.
As a result from cuts, a study from the University
of Alabama’s Education Policy Center study found
enrollment declined at 47 of 62 two-year colleges in
Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi. Researchers also
concluded due to changes, 5,000 students lost Pell
eligibility in 2012.
Almost 17,000 more students will most likely lose
grant money this year. This can have an effect on N.C.
public universities’ in and out-of-state tuition rates and
students can watch school programs steadily decline.
Obama and Congress must work together to better
distribute financial aid and keep school tuition low.
At the same time, politics must not place the founda
tion of this issue on how well your money is allocated
toward your college education.
Both in his State of the Union address and his
speech at Linamar, Obama championed education,
urging that more children have access to early child
hood education.
He stated he wants high schools to prepare students
for a high-tech economy and make sure colleges are
both affordable and accessible to every American.
Obama’s speech at Linamar praised the plant for its
work in gaining higher insourcing standards and pav-
, ing ways for workers to be able to receive the finest
education so they will be able to get skilled work jobs.
He praised A-B Tech’s partnership with Linamar
in helping students take classes customized to assist
them in getting specialized jobs.
“That’s good for the community,” Obama said. “It’s
good for Linamar, because they’re getting workers
who they know can do the job. It’s good for the folks
who are going to the community college because they
know if they work hard and they do well in the class
there’s a job waiting for them. It’s good for economy
as a whole.”
Going to college, whether it be a technical college
or four-year school, should be an important invest
ment this country puts as a higher agenda initiative.
The Blue Banner Editorial Board
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