Biden Echoes President’s Calls for Accessible, Affordable Education

Vice President Joe Biden reaffirmed the Obama administration’s goals for making higher education more accessible and more affordable for what he called America’s “greatest generation” during a recent conference call with student journalists.

During the call, Biden talked about the importance of ensuring families can afford to pay for higher education, saying that accessibility to higher education is one of the essential elements for reaching the American Dream.

“Any country who out educates us, out competes us,” Biden said, adding that other countries looking to compete economically with the United States aren’t cutting funding for education.

Biden highlighted elements of the president’s higher education plan, including ensuring many students won’t have to pay more than 10 percent of their income toward their federal loans. He also reiterated President Obama’s call for a “Race for the Top” type accountability system that holds universities accountable by withholding federal aid to institutions that do not actively seek to make changes to their school to allow for lowering tuition costs and increasing the quality of education.

The vice president also voiced his support for a federal DREAM Act , which would give undocumented students a pathway to citizenship if they’re pursuing higher education. Obama also called on Congress to pass such legislation during his State of the Union, saying he’d sign it.  

During the call, Biden called the young people enrolled in college “the greatest generation,” citing their propensity for giving and service and thanking the young men and women serving in the military.

Kellan Schmidt is a journalism intern with Campus Progress.

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