Last week President Obama delivered a major speech on higher education at the University of Texas on Austin.

The speech restates the President’s commitment to increasing the attainment of postsecondary education credentials by more Americans and highlights the steps the Administration has taken to move in this direction.

As stated by the President, “I want you to know we have been slipping…In a single generation, we’ve fallen from 1st place to 12th place in college graduation rates for young adults….  Now, that’s unacceptable, but it’s not irreversible.  We can retake the lead.  If we’re serious about making sure America’s workers — and America itself — succeeds in the 21st century, the single most important step we can take is make sure that every one of our young people has the best education that the world has to offer.” 

“Now,” he continued, “when I talk about education, people say, well, you know what, right now we’re going through this tough time….  So, Mr. President, you should only focus on jobs, on economic issues.  And what I’ve tried to explain to people…is that education is an economic issue.  Education is the economic issue of our time.  It is an economic issue when the unemployment rate for folks who’ve never gone to college is almost double what it is for folks who have gone to college.  It is an economic issue when almost eight in 10 new jobs will require workforce training or higher education by the end of this decade.  And it is an economic issue when we know, beyond shadow of a doubt, that countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow.”

To support the comments expressed by the President in Austin the Obama Administration has launched a comprehensive plan to address college affordability, access and success, to help regain the nation’s standing as a world leader in higher education by the end of the next decade.

Among the steps in the Admininstration’s plan are investing in college access and completion, strengthening and stabilizing the Pell Grant, strengthening minority serving institutions, and simplifying the federal applicatin for financial aid.