Ann Arbor Declaration: Higher Education is Not a Luxury, Obama declared

Posted: Dec 2, 2012 at 12:01 PM [Dec 2, 2012]

Obama’s concept to higher education known as the Declaration of Ann Arbor. President Obama visited the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor to recap the plan he set out in his State of the Union for college affordability: expanding aid for students and making sure colleges and universities prevent tuition hikes. Speaking to a crowd of college students and supporters. Obama declared in the multitude; Higher education is not a luxury. It's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford. And when I say higher education, I don't just mean four-year colleges and universities; I also mean our community colleges and providing lifelong learning for workers who may need to retrain for jobs when the economy shifts.
Obama’s 30 minutes speech of Ann Arbor Declaration he sat out his plan for college affordability, it is just another step in his commitment to break down the barriers to higher education. Democracy: Theory of Audasity

 

President Obama wants to encourage innovation in education. Continue funding competitions that increase student success and prepare students for college and careers. Obama said; Higher education is not a luxury. It's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford. And when I say higher education, I don't just mean four-year colleges and universities; I also mean our community colleges and providing lifelong learning for workers who may need to retrain for jobs when the economy shifts. All those things cost money, and it's harder and harder to afford.

Here at Michigan, you’ve done a lot to find savings in your budget. We know this is possible. So from now on, I’m telling Congress we should steer federal campus-based aid to those colleges that keep tuition affordable, provide good value, and serve their students well. We are putting colleges on notice … you can't assume that you’ll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can’t stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down. We should push colleges to do better. We should hold them accountable if they don’t.
The bottom line is that an economy built to last demands we keep doing everything we can to bring down the cost of college.