Students all across America are struggling to cope with the skyrocketing cost of higher education. In recent decades tuition has grown ten times faster than a typical family's income, putting an undue strain on families and making the cost of higher education too expensive for far too many.
At the same time, students are competing in a global marketplace with countries like China and India, and we need to ensure that the American workforce has the tools to rise to the challenge. That's why the President today announced a plan to make college more affordable and to continue his administration's historic investment in America's future.
President Obama has already in the first 100 days enacted legislation making the cost of college more affordable by making working families eligible for a $2,500 tax credit to help offset the cost of tuition, modernizing and expanding the Perkins Loan Program and reforming the Pell Grant program. The plan the President announced today to eliminate waste in the current loan programs and expand Pell Grants will help ensure that more students can afford college and that our system is as efficient as possible.
As unemployment rises, a college degree is more important than ever. We must do everything we can to make sure all eligible students can get the education they need to get ahead. CDA is thankful that with President Obama at the helm, we are much closer to making the dream of an affordable college education a reality.