Weekly
Address: Supporting America’s Students
The White House
June 7, 2014
Hi, everybody. This is commencement season, a time for
graduates and their families to celebrate one of the greatest achievements of a
young person’s life. But for many graduates, it also means feeling trapped by a
whole lot of student loan debt. And we’ve
got to do more to lift that burden.
See, in a 21st century economy,
the surest pathway into the middle class is some form of higher education. The unemployment rate for workers with a
bachelor’s degree is just 3.3 percent – about half what it is for high school
graduates. The typical graduate of a
four-year college earns $15,000 more per year than someone with just a high
school degree.
But at a time when college has
never been more important, it’s also never been more expensive.
That’s why, since I took office,
I’ve worked to make college more affordable.
We reformed a student loan system that gave away billions of taxpayer
dollars to big banks and invested that money where it makes a bigger bang – in
helping more young people afford a higher education.
But over the past three decades,
the average tuition at a public four-year college has more than tripled. The average undergraduate student who borrows
for college now graduates owing almost $30,000. And I’ve heard from too many
young people who are frustrated that they’ve done everything they were supposed
to do – and now they’re paying the price.
I’ve taken action on my own to
offer millions of students the opportunity to cap their monthly student loan
payments to 10% of their income. But Congress
needs to do its part. The good news is that Senate Democrats are working on a
bill that would help more young people save money. Just like you can refinance your mortgage at
a lower interest rate, this bill would let you refinance your student loans. And we’d pay for it by closing loopholes that
allow some millionaires to pay a lower tax rate than the middle class.
That’s the choice that your
representatives in Congress will make in the coming weeks – protect young
people from crushing debt, or protect tax breaks for millionaires. And while Congress decides what it’s going to
do, I will keep doing whatever I can without Congress to help responsible young
people pay off their loans – including new action I will take this week.
This country has always made a
commitment to put a good education within the reach of all who are willing to
work for it. That’s what made us an
economic superpower. That’s what makes
us special. And as long as I hold this
office, I’ll keep fighting to give more young people the chance to earn their
own piece of the American Dream. Thanks,
and have a great weekend. |
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