April is the time of the year when many people are thinking about college: high school seniors are deciding which colleges to commit to while seniors in college are thinking of their post-secondary education careers. That is how Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, kicked off a Monday morning press call that highlighted President Barack Obama’s efforts to expand college affordability.

The press call was prepared as a preview of Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill’s visit to the Community College of Philadelphia on Monday.

Also on the call with Muñoz were Jeff Zients, director of the United States National Economic Council; Pamela Zenner-Richards, a representative from Gateway Technical College in Wisconsin; and Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson.

Coinciding with the press call, the White House unveiled the $100 million America’s Promise Job-Driven Training grant competition, which will start this summer. The grants, which will be made available through the United States Department of Labor, pilot tuition-free partnerships between community colleges and other training providers and employers, according to a White House fact sheet.

Zients said the program will help workers from all backgrounds get good jobs, especially those who are struggling to find their “pathways to the middle class.”

He added that Obama’s efforts to expand job-driven training systems under the grant are important because Zients found that training programs in the past did not work closely enough with employers and did not keep track of whether workers receiving such trainings tended to stay in high-paying jobs.

“When training doesn’t lead to an opportunity, workers have wasted time and money, and that’s unacceptable,” Zients said.

Muñoz said the Obama administration has made progress in making college affordable, including doubling scholarships to the Pell grants, establishing the American Opportunity Tax Credit, capping monthly student loan payments at 10 percent of students’ incomes and lowering the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) filing time from an hour to 20 minutes.

The Obama administration also announced a new $70 million public and private investment as part of Obama’s America’s College Promise plan that serves almost 40,000 students at community colleges. Since Obama introduced the program in 2015, 27 new free community college programs have been launched in state, local and individual community colleges, according to the release.

Average tuition at two-year public colleges and universities went up by 14 percent during the last five years, according to CollegeBoard.

Some prudential candidates have raised college affordability as a campaign issue. Democratic candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supports tuition-free community colleges under her “New College Compact” plan. Republican candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich suggested that rising college tuition is a “problem” during his rally at Le Moyne College earlier this month.

Also during the press call, Muñoz listed events geared toward education coming up this and next week, including College Signing Day in New York City, which first lady Michelle Obama is expected to attend on Tuesday; the first-ever College Reporter Day at The White House on Thursday; and the National Teacher of the Year award ceremony, which will be hosted by Obama next week.

“One key thread across all of these events is a focus on the community,” Muñoz said. “We are engaging everyone from teachers to students to members of the community in our effort to make sure that we are opening doors to every American possible.”

Published on April 25, 2016 at 8:43 pm

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