President Barack Obama spoke on the issue of higher education in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, urging Congress to prepare tomorrow’s workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.
The president’s remarks follow Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Jan. 21 announcement that Louisiana higher education funding will see a $141.5 million increase in the upcoming fiscal year budget.
“I want to work with Congress to see how we can help even more Americans who feel trapped by student loan debt,” Obama said.
Obama said his administration was “shaking up” the country’s higher education system to give parents more information and colleges more incentives to offer better value.
Obama also said he’s offering millions the opportunity to cap their monthly student loan payments to 10 percent of their income.
LSU President F. King Alexander said he was not surprised by Obama’s speech, and he expected Obama to cover issues such as college affordability and access.
“I thought he did a good job,” Alexander said. “It seems like he’s very serious about making a lot of these things happen.”
Alexander travelled to Washington early in January to attend a conference hosted by Obama with 150 universities, businesses and nonprofits to discuss the issue of college accessibility.
Alexander also said he thinks 2014 will be the last year Obama will be able to get reforms enacted.
Obama also announced he will issue an executive order in coming weeks requiring federal contractors to pay their federally funded employees at least $10.10 an hour, noting the federal minimum wage is about 20 percent less than it was when Ronald Reagan delivered his first State of the Union address.