Barack Obama Pens Op-Ed For Student Newspapers

President Barack Obama is many things, and now he can add student newspaper columnist to his resume.

The president touted his new student loan savings plan in a op-ed published in the student newspapers at the University of Texas, California State University-Fresno, Texas Tech University and Harvard.

In a candid address to America's youth, Obama wrote that facing the future "can be scary" and addressed his own experience with student debt:

This is a tough time for a lot of Americans, especially young people. You’ve come of age at a time of profound change. The world has gotten more connected, but it’s also gotten more competitive. And for decades, too many of our institutions — from Washington to Wall Street — failed to adapt, culminating in the worst financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression.

[...]

Michelle and I know what it feels like to leave school with a mountain of debt. We didn’t come from wealthy families. By the time we both graduated from law school, we had about $120,000 worth of debt between us. And even though we were lucky enough to land good jobs with steady incomes, it still took us almost 10 years to finally pay it all off. It wasn’t easy.

The president announced the loan plan, called "Know Before You Owe," at the University of Colorado-Denver last week. The plan allows students who graduate with debt to cap their repayments to 10 percent of their income.

In his piece, Obama said the changes would affect 1.6 million students, and that the government would provide students with a fact sheet to better inform them about how to pay for college. "That’s something Michelle and I wish we had," the president wrote.

What do you think of the new loan repayment plan? Weigh in below.

Comments

[corwin]

06:50 PM on 11/03/2011

On the plus side,at least he's not on the golf course

[Nec V20]

10:49 PM on 11/02/2011

What's up with this thread. I have a post that is marked as "published" in my comments list but has not yet appeared here.

[Nec V20]

10:14 PM on 11/02/2011

If even a potion of the effort vested in trying to control a woman's womb was rather invested in the young people of America and their development then many problems would be resolved.

I'm a veteran, a veteran of childhood. I was born with talents and society paid for my education and later helped me to get my degree in Psychology.

My parents were solidly middle-class, but by no means rich.

I pursued a career in computers (the love for which I discovered during my studies) but the analytical tools I acquired at Bonn University in Germany stood me in good stead - especially when I was working in enterprise tech-support (and no I was not a RedShirt extra in Star Trek).

Now I could turn around and say, "I've got mine, screw you", but it pains me to think that today others could be consigned to the scrapheap of society, their potential unrealised, wasted and that self same society the poorer for it.

By exercising my education I have been able to help tens of thousands of people directly and millions of people indirectly. Without people's investment in me and my education I would not have been able to repay that investment and show my gratitude for the privileges I have enjoyed to those unknown benefactors.

Education is a blessing to the individual but it is also a boon to all those involved with that individual when he puts his acquired skills to use.

[Kris10jl]

08:55 PM on 11/02/2011

Hmmm, okay it still didn't work. Third time's the charm? Sorry folks!

In our increasingly competitive global economy, education is becoming ever more important, but that type of 'discretionary spending' seems to be all-too-often on the chopping block. I think this is in large part because students and young people can't (too young) or don't vote and therefore aren't a big political powerhouse.

Furthermore, investing in education is also something that delivers rewards over a longer time scale than say a $50 tax break check at the end of the year. Unfortunately, there is systemic problem in our political system: it incentivizes short-term gains/rewards at the expense of long-term ones. Through all of the economic, political, and cultural debates we are having in America right now, my greatest worry is that this issue will get lost and we will short-change our future.

Thanks for reading.

[Kris10jl]

08:54 PM on 11/02/2011

I don't know why the remainder of my comment was left off (I double-checked the word-count and its less than 250), but I have included it below:

In our increasingly competitive global economy, education is becoming ever more important, but that type of 'discretionary spending' seems to be all-too-often on the chopping block. I think this is in large part because students and young people can't (

[Kris10jl]

08:46 PM on 11/02/2011

I am a college graduate nearing my five-year reunion who is thinking about grad school, but hesitant to add the cost to my student debt-load. I very much applaud this move.

I was very frustrated this summer when the only major cuts (in both debt-ceiling deals) considered and implemented by Congress centered around eliminating subsidized student loans for grad students. (At first they also targeted Pell grants for undergrads, but that was later rolled back). While I believe that difficult times call for difficult sacrifice from all, and I am willing to do my part, this was the only major cut on the table, and few news outlets were even talking about it.

In our increasingly competitive global economy, education is becoming ever more important, but that type of 'discretionary spending' is all-too-often first on the chopping block. I think this is in large part because students and young people can't (

[chrissy333]

10:22 PM on 11/02/2011

Except that as far as I understand, you must have taken out one loan in 2008 or later and another one in 2012 to qualify. Very few people will meet this requirement.

[calm-down-bro]

08:41 PM on 11/02/2011

"Obie?" Mature.

[oceanye]

05:43 PM on 11/02/2011

Our President, of course, is a politician; but he is also our President at the correct time in our History.

Does anybody here read "Mother Jones"? The "why" is there.

OBAMA 2012!

[4more]

05:12 PM on 11/02/2011

Nice to have an intellect in the white house.....good for us, and for our kids to see that education matters. Certainly kids in other countries know that all to well.

[media4me2]

08:16 PM on 11/02/2011

Intellect?
Oh yeah, he's been running this country smartly.

[calm-down-bro]

08:41 PM on 11/02/2011

We are all surprised he hasn't called on you for help.

[4more]

09:18 AM on 11/03/2011

You obviously can't distinguish even between intellect and policy. You can disagree with Obama's policies....but you cannot deny the fact that a person who was the President of the Harvard Law Reiew -is by definition an intellect. And conversely, one who graduated college at #835 out of a class of 849, as did W....well then not so much.

[Mark Sage]

09:36 PM on 11/02/2011

Obama's intelligence. One of the best examples of an oxymoron.

[traceymarie]

04:55 PM on 11/02/2011

good for him

[oceanye]

05:44 PM on 11/02/2011

corrrect - and faved.

[traceymarie]

05:44 PM on 11/02/2011

thanks