The United States has fallen behind in education and must work toward the goal of becoming the nation with the highest number of college graduates by 2020, President Barack Obama said Tuesday in a conference call.

Obama spoke from the Oval Office to participating college students on changes in higher education, health care concerns and the importance of youth voting. Before opening the line to questions, Obama brought up ‘something that is probably going to make as big a difference in our success as a nation as anything we do’— strengthening the higher education system.

‘We have fallen behind,’ he said. ‘In a single generation, we’ve fallen from first to 12th in college graduation rates for young adults, and if we’re serious about building a stronger economy and making sure we succeed in the 21st century, then the single most important step we can take is to make sure that every young person gets the best education possible, because countries that out-educate us today are going to out-compete us tomorrow.’

The president has proposed once again becoming the top nation for college graduates and having the highest rate of college graduates in the world by 2020. He said the administration is currently putting into effect the policies needed.

‘Our classrooms, our professors, our administrators, students — you guys are going to drive future success of the United States,’ he said.

Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, said Syracuse University supports the president’s decision on higher education.

‘President Obama has underlined the important role that higher education must play in assuring the prosperity of America’s youth and the nation as a whole,’ Quinn said in e-mail. ‘Syracuse University strongly supports his calls for increasing access to higher education, evident in our own record of strong financial support for students in recent years.’

The past two years, the university increased financial aid to accepted students, according to an article published in The Daily Orange on Sept. 7. 

Federal Work-Study at SU was cut by 20 percent this year and was without the extra $600,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 last year, according to an article in Monday’s The Daily Orange.

But Obama said the government is working to make college more affordable.

This includes simplifying financial aid forms and changing how federal student loans are administered. Obama said federal student loan money would be redirected away from the bank middleman and directly to students. The change will support community colleges and make college more affordable for nearly eight million students and families, he said.

The administration is also tripling the investment in college tax credits for middle class families and raising the value of Federal Pell Grants, which will keep up with the rate of inflation, he said.

Future borrowers are also able to choose a payment plan so they will not have to pay more than 10 percent of salary each month to service student loans. Those who go into public service will have any leftover loans forgiven after 10 years.

The Affordable Care Act, which allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health care until the age of 26, would also help college students and recent graduates deal with finances, Obama said.

‘Obviously, it’s up for students to finish, but we can help remove some barriers —especially for those who are earning degrees while working or raising families,’ Obama said.

Obama said he wanted to open the doors of colleges to more people, making college easier for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, military veterans and children of illegal immigrants. He said it was a setback the DREAM Act was not passed last week.

Chris Walsh, director of the Higher Education Compact Program in the Syracuse chapter of Say Yes to Education, said he thought the president’s 2020 goal to have the most college graduates in the world was attainable. The social and economic barriers that currently keep students from earning a college degree are beginning to come down, he said.

Walsh, former dean of financial aid and scholarship programs at SU, said the resources to go to college — scholarships and financial aid — are available, but students need to become more aware of the availability.

‘A lot of students and families opt out of pursuing higher education because the cost is outside their reach,’ Walsh said.

Students need to be prepared for further education early on, becoming proficient in basic math and reading skills, Walsh said. The U.S. is currently up against nations that place more emphasis on education, something the U.S. needs to have more of, he said.

‘The U.S. competes in a world economy,’ Walsh said. ‘And in order to be successful, America has to be able to perform in a competitive market with other nations.’

Obama also focused on reaching out to young people to get them to register to vote. He said he wanted to send a message to young people across the country on the importance of the 2010 elections.

The youth vote was heavily involved in his 2008 presidential campaign in response to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy and health care. The excitement is not as strong now for young people, Obama said, because the old politics and party arguments are still present.

He said he hopes young people will become re-engaged instead of ignoring the mid-term elections.

‘What I want to do is just go, speak to young people directly and remind them of what I said during the campaign, which was, ‘Change is always hard in this country, it doesn’t happen overnight,” Obama said.

Obama encouraged young people to continue to live vibrant, dynamic lives, despite facing the challenging economic times.

‘If you are able to work together as a generation to pack all longstanding problems that you inherited, but that are solvable,’ he said, ‘then there is no reason why the 21st century’s not going to be the American Century, just like the 20th century.’

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

Published on September 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride