Obama Graduation Initiative Speech Warren MIObama Graduation Initiative Speech Warren MI
“But today I’m announcing the most significant down payment yet on reaching the goal of having the highest college graduation rate of any nation in the world. We’re going to achieve this in the next 10 years. (Applause.) And it’s called the American Graduation Initiative. It will reform and strengthen community colleges like this one from coast to coast so they get the resources that students and schools need — and the results workers and businesses demand. Through this plan, we seek to help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates in the next decade — 5 million. (Applause.)
Not since the passage of the original GI Bill and the work of President Truman’s Commission on Higher Education — which helped to double the number of community colleges and increase by seven-fold enrollment in those colleges — have we taken such a historic step on behalf of community colleges in America. And let me be clear: We pay for this plan — this isn’t adding to the deficit; we’re paying for this plan — by ending the wasteful subsidies we currently provide to banks and private lenders for student loans. (Applause.) That will save tens of billions of dollars over the next 10 years. Instead of lining the pockets of special interests, it’s time this money went towards the interests of higher education in America. (Applause.) That’s what my administration is committed to doing.
Now, I know that for a long time there have been politicians who have spoken of training as a silver bullet and college as a cure-all. It’s not, and we know that. I can’t tell you how many workers who’ve been laid off, you talk to them about training and they say, “Training for what?” So I understand the frustrations that a lot of people have, especially if the training is not well designed for the specific jobs that are being created out there.
But we know that in the coming years, jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience. We will not fill those jobs — or even keep those jobs here in America — without the training offered by community colleges. That’s why I want to applaud Governor Granholm for the No Worker Left Behind program. (Applause.) It’s providing up to two years’ worth of free tuition at community colleges and universities across the state. The rest of the country should learn from the effort.
This is training to become a medical technician, or a health IT worker, or a lab specialist, or a nurse. In fact, 59 percent of all new nurses come from community colleges. (Applause.) This is training to install solar panels and build those wind turbines we were talking about and develop a smarter electricity grid. And this is the kind of education that more and more Americans are using to improve their skills and broaden their horizons. Many young people are saving money by spending two years at community college before heading to a four-year college. And more workers who have lost their jobs — or fear losing a job — are seeking an edge at schools like this one.”