Last Tuesday, President Barack Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union address in front of Congress and the watchful eyes of Americans across the country. The economy was the focus of the speech, as the unemployment rate is still high despite more positive economic numbers in the past year. For students, Obama reaffirmed his stance to make college affordable for any student who has the ambition to go and to hold colleges accountable, by measuring how much debt their students graduate with and whether they can find a job. These commitments show the president cares about making college affordable, which is very comforting to hear as a college student.
Obama mentioned that student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt in the U.S. He also reassured students he wants to keep the costs of college down while inspiring any student with the ambition to go not to have to let financial situations prevent them. While it is not a new proposal, Obama reminded those students with loans that he wants to cap student loan payments at ten percent of an individual’s income after graduation, with loan forgiveness available if this 10 percent amount is paid for 25 years and there are still outstanding loan balances. This is a truly amazing deal; as long as students work hard after college and give a reasonable amount of their income to pay their loans back, they are guaranteed to be debt free after 25 years of work.
The president also referenced his plan to “grade” colleges in report card like fashion, with their grade determined by each college’s student debt load at graduation and the ability of its graduates to find work after school. With this system, students will be better able to pick a school based on their financial situation and not the glossy brochures colleges love to bombard students with their senior years.
The rollout of the Affordable Care Act, however botched, also offers an important positive piece for students: The fact that they can now stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26 years old. College students will not have to worry about seeking to buy their own health care plan so long as they have already been on a plan with their parents.
An upset Obama also criticized Congress for doing next to nothing over the past legislative year and called for them to make this year a “year of action.” He has already taken unilateral action, through an executive order, for the minimum wage to be raised for all federal contractors to $10.10 per hour, up from the federal wage of $7.25 per hour.
Obama called on the states to take action to raise the minimum wage if Congress will not. Raising the minimum wage is an issue of importance to students, as the difference between making $8.00 per hour for some on-campus jobs and $10.10 per hour would be very significant to many work-study students and other students making minimum wage.
While there is no new significant legislation for students to report on (or much prospect for legislation anytime soon), Obama made it clear that he cares about making college affordable to students and cares about raising the minimum wage for students and low-wage earners alike. Even with a do-nothing Congress, having the commander in chief on the students’ side is something you can comfort yourself with when you are worrying about stacking up your student loans.
