President Obama is taking further steps in an effort to answer millions of college students struggling under heavy student loan debt and the anger that has incited the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Colleges movements.
White House Meeting Called to Discuss Student Loan Debt
The White House will be holding a meeting with multiple state universities and select non-profit universities that have distinguished themselves in their initiatives to keep college costs down. These colleges will discuss how to lower overall campus costs.
The Obama administration is seeing the issue central to keeping the American population competitive in a global job market and global economy where higher-skilled jobs are the most in demand.
Also present at the meeting will be the Education Secretary, Arne Duncan.
Why Student Loan Debt is Important to the Obama Administration
With college costs skyrocketing (now as high as three trillion dollars, the majority of the debt being federal aid) and job prospects post-graduation few and far between, there is growing recognition that something must be done. Without action by schools or the government the next economic bubble that might burst could be the student lending bubble.
The Obama administration is also making it clear that student debt woes are high on the agenda, partly because of the recent protests and partly in pursuit of maintaining favor with a voting base that was a major source of support in the 2008 elections.
What the Meeting Will Hopefully Mean for Students, and What it Won’t Mean
President Obama’s first step to combating rising college costs was speeding up student-loan directed legislation in congress, and this meeting will be the next step.
There is little hope, however, that the meeting will create the immediate changes that the Occupy Wall Street protestors are looking for. This is because many of the issues causing massive student loan debt is systemic. Without a widespread overhaul of the way higher education is done, any help will have limited effects. However, without the issue on the table, being discussed, nothing can ever be done.