By Jackie Rapetti, News Correspondent
There are still jobs out there for students getting a college degree, despite a tough economic environment, President Barack Obama told The News during a conference call Monday.
The president, in a conference call with more than 100 other college media outlets, discussed the steps his administration has taken to address the concerns of young Americans.
In March, President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act which, in addition to changing health care regulations, makes revisions to financial aid for college students. The bill ends the role of private banks as middlemen, channels the extra money to the neediest students and increases the Pell Grant scholarship award, which is generally awarded to students with a family income under $30,000.
Even with the increase in the Pell Grant scholarship award, Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.org and Fastweb.com, said he still believes Congress “needs to double the Pell Grant immediately.”
During the conference call the president said he can’t keep adding more money to the grants.
“If I keep increasing Pell Grants and making [higher education] more affordable while higher education inflation keeps going up, we’re going to be right back where we started,” Obama said. “Public institutions’ tuitions have gone up because state budgets are so hard pressed, so they have to cut costs in higher education … Improving the economy overall is going to be a critical step and will take some pressure off of the states.”
Kantrowitz said the federal government will need to provide even more assistance in the coming years as the private sector continues to be blunted by the poor economy.
“Private loans have become much less available in recent years; some lenders have added new requirements to get loans and now fewer people can qualify,” Kantrowitz said. “The demand for loans exceeds the supply in this case.”
The president said he sees improvements in today’s college campuses.
“When I look at athletic facilities that exist, or food courts or other things that have to do with quality of life at public universities, it’s sure a lot nicer than when I went,” Obama said. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘are we designing our universities in a way that focuses on the primary thing?’ You’re not going to join a spa, you’re going to learn so you can have a career.’ You’ve got to structure how universities operate to give students the best deal.”
Katie Waller, a sophomore international affairs major, said she is unhappy with the high cost of education today.
“College has gotten so expensive it is ridiculous,” she said. “While it’s nice to see that the government is recognizing this, there is still so much more that has to be done to really improve the accessibility of higher education in America.”
The president is still determined to bring the country’s graduation rates up, despite higher costs.
“We want to send more people to college so that they can learn, graduate and succeed in life,” Obama said. “Don’t let anyone tell you your dreams are going to be strained going forward.”
Northeastern University Financial Aid Director Anthony Erwin said with the poor economy, grant money at Northeastern has been increasing over the past three years, leaving “significant dollars available” for students here.
Obama also said young people need to have a better sense of the job market so they will gravitate to skills they need for employment.
“A lot of times people are going through programs racking up debt but not ultimately getting skills needed to get a job,” he said.
Obama said he plans to continue talks with students across the country as mid-term elections approach in November.
“I want to speak to young people directly and remind them of what I said in the campaign,” he said. “Young people need to get re-engaged in the process, make an educated decision and participate in this process. Democracy is never one and done, we always have to keep working at it.”
