It is hard to have a day go by where there is not at least one article in the major media about the high cost of college.  With the recession and its impact on state and local budgets, tuitions are being increased at many public colleges and universities and some institutions are reducing the number of students attending in order to cut costs for next year.  Unfortunately, these actions are not increasing the access and affordability of higher education in the United States.

While access and affordability of higher education have been stated goals of the Spellings Commission, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education (NCPPHE) in its annual Measuring Up reports, President Obama, and others, the recommendations for improving affordability are few and far between.  The Spellings Commission stated that colleges need to think more like entrepreneurs and examine partnerships and distance learning as options to improve access and cost.  Many in traditional higher education panned the Spellings Commission’s recommendations although little was said that had not already been identified by many of the other public policy organizations like NCPPHE, State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), and The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS).  This past January, I wrote an article for this blog about a survey of college presidents entitled The Iron Triangle: College Presidents Talk About Costs, Access, and Quality.  I was aghast that during a period of economic downturn, most of the presidents surveyed stated that the only solution to improving access was to provide them with more funding at the federal and state levels.  I wonder how many entrepreneurs have succeeded by waiting for more money to pay for a product rather than designing the product to meet the ability of their customers to pay for it.

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From the earliest days of the most recent presidential election, President Obama made it clear that one of his highest priorities if elected would be addressing climate change, energy consumption and the economy.  It seems that within the first several months of taking office, President Obama has remained dedicated to those priorities.  More recently, he maintains that he has found a single solution that will address all three problems: the development of a “green economy.” 

The green economy, according to the Administration, will “invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions [five million, to be exact] of new jobs.”  President Obama has stated his intention to invest $150 billion over the next ten years in efforts meant to encourage private efforts to establish and use clean energy.  Through this investment, the President expects to not only create jobs (developing, installing, and maintaining new green technologies) but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050 through the use of clean and renewable energy sources.  Breaking the nation’s addiction to foreign oil is an obvious underpinning of the Obama plan. 

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The Pell Grant, originally known as the Basic Education Opportunity Act, was created in 1972 to support the postsecondary educational needs of the country’s least advantaged students.  The original maximum amount for Pell Grant recipients was $452.  In 1980, the program was renamed the Pell Grant in honor of Senator Claiborne Pell and his initiatives in creating the program.  After periodic increases to meet the rising cost of college tuition, the Pell Grant remained stagnant at $4,050 for four years during the Bush Administration from 2003 until 2007.

By the time President Obama took office, the maximum Pell Grant was $4,731.  With the recent implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the maximum Pell Grant increased to $5,350.  Even with this increase, however, there are significant deficiencies with the Pell Grant system that must be addressed if the United States is to improve affordability and access to postsecondary educational opportunities.

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Last night, President Obama delivered an address to the nation.  He focused on the state of the economy and his administration’s plans for the economic future of our country focusing on energy, healthcare, and education.  I thought I would examine his plans for education as it relates to higher education and compare them to the public policy initiatives and thought pieces that have previously been published.

President Obama’s speech led off with a discussion of the global economy and the fact that “the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge.”  One of the first persons to stimulate a national discussion on this topic was author Thomas Friedman with the publication of his book, The World is Flat, in 2005.  Friedman cogently makes the point that technology has opened up the ability for companies to effectively employ engineers from India and China while conducting their business from the U.S.  Friedman also discusses the higher rates of education in countries with former third world status where it is recognized that the ticket to financial success is a good education.

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