Mitch Perry
College access and affordability will top the agenda Monday of President Barack Obama’s town hall meeting with high school students. Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan also plan to discuss allowing more flexible deadlines to the college financial aid system.
Using that as a pivot point for his own struggling candidacy, Marco Rubio had an op-ed published in Monday’s Des Moines Register about his own plans to reform higher education.
Among the highlights:
- Rubio says he’ll reform the accreditation system “to welcome low-cost, innovative higher education providers, which are currently being blocked by the existing institutions that control accreditation.” He says this will “transform” higher education by exposing it to market forces and competition.
- Require universities to tell students how much they can expect to earn in the market with a degree before they take out their loans to pay for. He’ll also open financial aide programs that allow working students to attend school on nights, weekends and online.
- He’ll create alternatives to student loans, and adjust loan repayment plans to each graduate’s income. “This will dramatically reduce the financial risks of earning a degree,” he writes.
“While President Obama’s plan would spend $60 billion to provide free access to community college, my plan would ensure students have multiple affordable options so they don’t feel pressured to pick the one government will pay for, ” the senator from Florida writes. “While President Obama’s plan would double down on outdated methods of earning degrees, my plan would allow students to combine what they already know with faster and more affordable pathways to a degree.”
