5 Things President Obama's 2013 Budget Does For Higher Education

President Obama's budget proposal for the 2013 fiscal year would beef up spending on higher education. Appropriately, he unveiled it at a community college in Virginia on Monday.

Obama's budget would increase Education Department spending to $69.8 billion -- a 2.5 percent jump. This additional funding towards education is the highest increase of any domestic department in the federal government.

Obama's plan for higher education would focus on new financial incentives for colleges and universities that are able to keep their costs down, and add more funding for research grants. He is also asking for billions of dollars to go toward training programs in community colleges, including help for schools for that are able to help graduates secure internships and jobs in their field. However, the president would cut-off for-profit colleges from this type of funding.

Check out the 5 things Obama's budget plan does for higher education. Then tell us, what do you think? Weigh in below!

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Comments

[nowandthenreader]

02:05 PM on 02/20/2012

Richard Schwartz, who is a former dean/provost, wrote an interesting piece on the true costs/pitfalls of higher ed. Hopefully this new budget will remedy some of the problems he discusses. For those interested: http://goo.gl/iGxIJ

[deridaa]

09:42 AM on 02/20/2012

next bubble to burst- summer camp for 4 years might get you re-elected but like Fannie and Freddie after the politicians retire to their estates the people are left with higher taxes, a collapsed economy, no jobs and high debt- where is that on your little slide show??

[GoldwaterKid]

01:49 AM on 02/16/2012

This is all about student loans defaulting. No consumer protection for these loans, oh no, they just keep adding the interest and repackage the loan on the open market, until you die.

[ladyrosedeky]

01:24 AM on 02/16/2012

A well educated populace is the foundation of a strong society. According to Steve Jobs, the reason he took Apple's manufacturing to China is America doesn't have enough people educated to do the jobs they needed to have done. The plant does employ 200k in China. It would be good to prepare our citizens for those tech jobs so they can be done here because the cost of manufacturing in China and shipping has gone up so much that it is cost effective for companies to bring the jobs back here but they can't if we don't have the people able to do them. We do need our children prepared for the college courses they will need to take for the jobs of the future too so it is imperative we get more good science and math teachers trained. However, our educational system really needs some radical changes because it looses the attention of bright students. This would cut down the drop out rate because some just get frustrated with the system. Since the banks have taken over student loans, it is a good idea that they be forced to keep the interest rates down on the loans. Especially when you think how little it is costing banks to borrrow money.

[Kris M MacDonald]

10:06 PM on 02/15/2012

Gee. After 12 years of bush/obama. I'm about ready to grab the worlds biggest saw and detach Washington DC from the union altogether and float it out to see.

[hamcallk5co]

07:09 PM on 02/15/2012

Your education won't be worth a flip when Obama has completed what he intends to do to this nation. The poor fellow has no idea as to what makes a great nation work. I have to wonder if all those people that took affirmative action into the voting booth also knew that the man they supported is a full fledged Marxist.

[Sharion Thompson]

01:44 PM on 02/15/2012

As a educator...let us not forget that part of the student loan crisis is due to student loan scams!! We make it too easy to obtain federal aid. We grant money to students who have felonies, who have no hope getting a job in healthcare. We also have students "who work the system"...take out huge living expense stipends only to leave the college after they receive their checks. Then they re-enroll until they can't borrow again. Then off to the next college.....We even have students who are registering until false identification....some have scam thousands....Don't blame the colleges, even the for-profits for this mess....the student is just as guilty.

[ladyrosedeky]

12:38 AM on 02/16/2012

Actually, it sounds like the only guilty person is the one perpetrating the scam. And unfortunately, you have people that get ill and can't work any more and get deferments based on health issues that some num-nut further up in the system will over turn. Despite all evidence provided to the Department of Education, these people are caught in a catch 22.

[Susan E Sneathen]

10:50 AM on 02/15/2012

Education ought to be a very important matter in our country. It's not. It's a political tool. And this is what this proposal is. Large, successful, long established universities already have all the connections necessary to set up many internships for their students. Smaller schools find it more difficult to connect as many internships. However, the incentive for schools to get his done presently is to turn out successful students. That should ALWAYS be the incentive. NOT gaining federal funds.
NCLB has failed our schools, our kids, and our teachers. But Obama's desire to nationalize education is far worse. No one as of yet has come up with a great plan for getting education on the right track. At least none I've heard. K through 12 needs the most attention. Mostly, we need government out of the way, let teachers teach using their own creative method, cut all the paperwork and additional garbage put on teachers plates. Every student isn't going to be a rocket scientist!

[hollyann1963]

10:33 AM on 02/15/2012

Gee, reading some of the posts, I cannot believe there are people who would be against Education for our citizens! Lets keep everyone ignorant??? What's the matter? Some one might realize you're not educated enough for your job and replace you? There are still jobs going overseas because there are not enough engineers and other professionals to fill the positions that they do have. Not understanding the consequenses of your actions, is a very dangerous thing.

[Susan E Sneathen]

10:44 AM on 02/15/2012

Wow. There are not enough jobs because our government created a system which "encourages" companies and jobs to go overseas. The more our government gets involved, the more control they gain (which is their mission) and the worse the situation will get. We definitely need attention given to education.... K through 12. The higher institutions need to be allowed to operate without government control. And this "proposal" is really rather ludicrous since bigger schools with more connections already secure internships for their students. It's just another excuse to SPEND!

[Ben DuCharme]

09:20 AM on 02/15/2012

Hopefully it is applied properly. There are jobs openings here that nobody's trained for. But the real question is how to get more people to want to go back to school in the first place. I'm back in school now at 39 The pell grant was sufficient for community college plus some. What we need is Corporations who need educated people for their work force to let colleges know what they need and to recruit people who would like to fill that position. Also community colleges need to provide more vocational programs!

[Mr Fix]

06:55 AM on 02/15/2012

Gesh, I noticed my post got deleted.

[Ben DuCharme]

09:10 AM on 02/15/2012

Had that happen to me too. It must have been thought provoking or something! LOL

[deridaa]

09:42 AM on 02/20/2012

You must be republican

[Sarah Elizabeth Duran]

06:53 AM on 02/15/2012

I like this. These are all the things that I looked for in a college. Low debt and high quality/rate of success; seems like common sense traits to look for in a college. It is weird that the government has to create incentives for that.

[Mr Fix]

06:59 AM on 02/15/2012

Just make sure it's not a "for-profit" college you choose though. You may not get the higher quality/rate of education as the Government assisted ones are getting money from.

[Sarah Elizabeth Duran]

07:12 AM on 02/15/2012

There is no way it could be 'for-profit'. i pay so little after they help me get all the grants and scholarships that I can. Not a single student loan yet! On top of that I have only used 3 months of my GI Bill benefits out of almost 18 months of school. My parents, who paid off their student loans in their mid-forties, are beside themselves. The teachers credentials/degrees/occupations are amazing. I can't believe an attorney currently in the Department of Justice is teaching me tort law; unbelievable.

[MrMusicFlood]

06:21 AM on 02/15/2012

Good! "Some of the president's budget initiatives would shut out for-profit colleges"

[MrMusicFlood]

06:19 AM on 02/15/2012

It's about time we invest in education! It's the bedrock of society after all.

[Corie Lemmon]

06:07 AM on 02/15/2012

he president would cut-off for-profit colleges from this type of funding.---_Should be a requirement