President Barack Obama highlighted his commitment to higher education in a conference call with college reporters nationwide Tuesday.
He echoed the importance of keeping education affordable — reminiscent of the speech he delivered at UNC’s campus on April 24.
He also touted his successful campaigns to implement the American Opportunity Tax Credit and prevent the Stafford federal student loan interest rate, currently at 3.4 percent, from doubling.
His 2013 budget includes a proposal to direct funding toward institutions that “demonstrate a commitment to providing their students a high-quality education at a reasonable price and provide good value.”
Obama said Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has been apathetic toward access to higher education on the campaign trail.
“On every issue just about, young people are going to see a real clear choice, whether it is on affording college, where Gov. Romney’s main advice was to ‘borrow money from your parents,’ an option obviously not available for a lot of people, or do we take the approach that I have suggested,” he said.
But Republicans counter that Obama’s administration has simply increased education funding without focusing on ways to lower costs or encourage innovation.
“The flood of federal dollars is only driving costs out of control and inflating the cost of education,” said Robert Reid, N.C. communications director for Romney’s campaign.
Kenan Drum, chairman of the UNC for Romney group, said Romney’s platform focuses on rewarding innovation and teachers who perform well.
