The Obama Administration today announced a shorter, simpler, and more user friendly Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that will make it easier to apply for college financial aid. The changes—some of which are already in place while others will be phased in over the next few months—are designed to increase postsecondary enrollment, particularly among low- and middle-income students.
"President Obama has challenged the nation to once again have the highest percentage of college graduates in the world," said Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education. "To do that, we need to make the college-going process easier and more convenient, and to send a clear message to young people as well as adults that college is within their reach. Simplifying the financial aid process is an important step toward reaching that goal."
At his first White House press corps briefing, Secretary Duncan outlined the Administration's plan for streamlining the FAFSA.
The simplified FAFSA is one of several recent steps taken by the Obama Administration to improve access to higher education and make it more affordable.
"Simplifying the FAFSA is another significant action in our quest to keep a college degree within the reach of every person who aspires to higher education," Duncan said.
In other news, on Friday, June 19, the Senate confirmed the appointments of Martha J. Kanter to serve as U.S. Under Secretary of Education and Jane Oates to serve as Assistant Labor Secretary, Employment and Training Commission. Kanter is Chancellor of Foothill-De Anza Community College District. Oates worked closely with the New Jersey community colleges and the NJ Council of Community Colleges to implement a statewide articulation agreement.
For highlights of the Obama Administration's Agenda for College Affordability, go to http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/06/06242009.html.
More information on federal financial aid for college is available at http://studentaid.ed.gov.
Read more!
Showing posts with label Secretary of Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Secretary of Education. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Ed Secretary Duncan Announces Grant Competition, Cites Community Colleges as “Invaluable Resources” for Displaced Workers
Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited the Milwaukee Area Technical College today to announce a $7 million special competitive grant to establish innovative and sustainable community college programs that prepare displaced workers for second careers. This first-of-its-kind grant program will be used to develop national models that can be replicated across the country, especially in communities where autoworkers have lost their jobs.
Accompanied by Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, Milwaukee Area Technical College Acting President Vicki Martin and Manpower Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Joerres, Secretary Duncan called upon institutions of higher learning, private and public nonprofit organizations, and other agencies to propose model programs for training adults to pursue family-sustaining second careers. Secretary Duncan is one of several cabinet secretaries and other high-level officials from the Obama administration traveling across the Midwest this week to visit communities affected by layoffs in the automobile industry.
"Education is the catalyst for a strong economy and the means by which adults will reinvent themselves and rebuild the industrial cities that have been the foundation of our nation," Secretary Duncan said. "The Obama administration is committed to supporting auto communities and workers, who have been displaced from their jobs. Community colleges are invaluable resources for adults seeking to acquire new skills that are needed by employers."
The U.S. Department of Education launched its first special focus competition grant today from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) benefiting community colleges. The grant will provide seed funding for model programs in community colleges that help adults develop the skills they need to succeed in a new career.
The programs could provide services, such as tutoring, academic and career counseling, and help with the registration process. They also could remove financial constraints for adults returning to school, including child care, transportation, and textbooks. These innovative new programs must be sustainable beyond the three-year grant period.
The grant application will be announced online today, June 4, in the Federal Register, and published tomorrow, June 5. Applications will be due on Aug. 7. The Department of Education anticipates awarding approximately 28 grants by mid-September with projects beginning on or about Oct. 1. The estimated range of the grant awards is $300,000-$750,000 over a three-year period.
For more information about the FIPSE program, go to http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/fipse/index.html.
The Federal Register can be accessed at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/browse.html. Read more!
Accompanied by Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, Milwaukee Area Technical College Acting President Vicki Martin and Manpower Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Joerres, Secretary Duncan called upon institutions of higher learning, private and public nonprofit organizations, and other agencies to propose model programs for training adults to pursue family-sustaining second careers. Secretary Duncan is one of several cabinet secretaries and other high-level officials from the Obama administration traveling across the Midwest this week to visit communities affected by layoffs in the automobile industry.
"Education is the catalyst for a strong economy and the means by which adults will reinvent themselves and rebuild the industrial cities that have been the foundation of our nation," Secretary Duncan said. "The Obama administration is committed to supporting auto communities and workers, who have been displaced from their jobs. Community colleges are invaluable resources for adults seeking to acquire new skills that are needed by employers."
The U.S. Department of Education launched its first special focus competition grant today from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) benefiting community colleges. The grant will provide seed funding for model programs in community colleges that help adults develop the skills they need to succeed in a new career.
The programs could provide services, such as tutoring, academic and career counseling, and help with the registration process. They also could remove financial constraints for adults returning to school, including child care, transportation, and textbooks. These innovative new programs must be sustainable beyond the three-year grant period.
The grant application will be announced online today, June 4, in the Federal Register, and published tomorrow, June 5. Applications will be due on Aug. 7. The Department of Education anticipates awarding approximately 28 grants by mid-September with projects beginning on or about Oct. 1. The estimated range of the grant awards is $300,000-$750,000 over a three-year period.
For more information about the FIPSE program, go to http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/fipse/index.html.
The Federal Register can be accessed at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/browse.html. Read more!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan Testifies Before Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees
June 3, 2009—Today, Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the Senate Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations Subcommittee and the House Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee to address "The Administration's FY2010 Budget Request for the Department of Education."
Duncan told the Senate that "this budget makes important choices to continue and expand education for our children from cradle to career."
The Department of Education has submitted an FY2010 budget for an overall $46.7 billion of discretionary funding, an increase of $1.3 billion over FY2009. One of the goals of the budget, Duncan said, is to assure that students have the financial aid and student loans they need not just to enter college, but to complete their college educations.
"The Recovery Act made an important down payment in our effort to expand student aid," said Duncan. "In addition to more aid, we want to make sure that students are not just attending college, but graduating. The stimulus bill provided $17.1 billion so that we would increase the maximum Pell award from $4,850 to $5,350. In our fiscal year 2010 budget, we propose important and permanent changes to assure students have access to federal grants, aid, and loans. The first is to move the Pell program from discretionary to a mandatory appropriated entitlement. The second, we propose to link the grant increase in the maximum grant to the consumer price index, plus one percent every year, which will allow the maximum grant to grow at a rate higher than inflation so that students can keep up with the rising cost of college."
The Education Department would pay for this by improving and streamlining the federal student loan program. All loans would be moved over time from the Federal Family Education Loan Program to the direct-loan program. Duncan stressed that doing this would improve the loan program without creating a burden for tax payers.
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) expressed concern over changing the Pell program from discretionary to mandatory, saying he doesn't "have a closed mind about it," but that the issue needs further discussion.
Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) expressed concern over the need for an improved system of matching practical and technical skills acquired during higher education with skills needed once students are working. She said she will soon be introducing legislation to bring together "all the players from the schools to the community to the community leaders, labor, business, workforce leaders to design programs for their own communities." She asked whether there is a place in the budget for these needs.
Duncan responded that "community colleges play a huge role in the trajectory of education continuum" and that community colleges "have been a highly under-utilized, undervalued resource." He mentioned the nomination of Martha Kanter, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in California, to the position of Undersecretary of Education as a "strategic" placement to include community colleges at the federal legislative level.
"It's so important," Duncan said, "to help shape the opportunities that our high school and community college students have. We can't do enough of that. We have to tie education to the real world."
View video of Secretary Duncan's testimony to the Senate. Read more!
Duncan told the Senate that "this budget makes important choices to continue and expand education for our children from cradle to career."
The Department of Education has submitted an FY2010 budget for an overall $46.7 billion of discretionary funding, an increase of $1.3 billion over FY2009. One of the goals of the budget, Duncan said, is to assure that students have the financial aid and student loans they need not just to enter college, but to complete their college educations.
"The Recovery Act made an important down payment in our effort to expand student aid," said Duncan. "In addition to more aid, we want to make sure that students are not just attending college, but graduating. The stimulus bill provided $17.1 billion so that we would increase the maximum Pell award from $4,850 to $5,350. In our fiscal year 2010 budget, we propose important and permanent changes to assure students have access to federal grants, aid, and loans. The first is to move the Pell program from discretionary to a mandatory appropriated entitlement. The second, we propose to link the grant increase in the maximum grant to the consumer price index, plus one percent every year, which will allow the maximum grant to grow at a rate higher than inflation so that students can keep up with the rising cost of college."
The Education Department would pay for this by improving and streamlining the federal student loan program. All loans would be moved over time from the Federal Family Education Loan Program to the direct-loan program. Duncan stressed that doing this would improve the loan program without creating a burden for tax payers.
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) expressed concern over changing the Pell program from discretionary to mandatory, saying he doesn't "have a closed mind about it," but that the issue needs further discussion.
Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) expressed concern over the need for an improved system of matching practical and technical skills acquired during higher education with skills needed once students are working. She said she will soon be introducing legislation to bring together "all the players from the schools to the community to the community leaders, labor, business, workforce leaders to design programs for their own communities." She asked whether there is a place in the budget for these needs.
Duncan responded that "community colleges play a huge role in the trajectory of education continuum" and that community colleges "have been a highly under-utilized, undervalued resource." He mentioned the nomination of Martha Kanter, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in California, to the position of Undersecretary of Education as a "strategic" placement to include community colleges at the federal legislative level.
"It's so important," Duncan said, "to help shape the opportunities that our high school and community college students have. We can't do enough of that. We have to tie education to the real world."
View video of Secretary Duncan's testimony to the Senate. Read more!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Secretary Arne Duncan Testifies Before House Committee
Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified before the House Education and Labor Committee to outline President Barack Obama's education agenda and the FY2010 budget request.
While the bulk of Secretary Duncan's comments covered K-12 education, he noted three key changes in the higher education area: First, the Pell Grant program would be shifted to a mandatory, appropriated entitlement. Second, the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan program and the move into a large direct lending program. Third, the Perkins loan program will increase from $1 billion to $6 billion. This change will also increase the participation rates for students and colleges.
The Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow to discuss the Administration's proposal for FFEL and direct lending.
In other testimony, Secretary Duncan noted that the Department is focused on ensuring that states are utilizing stimulus stabilization funds properly and on education.
Click here for Secretary Duncan's testimony.
Click here to view the hearing.
Read more!
While the bulk of Secretary Duncan's comments covered K-12 education, he noted three key changes in the higher education area: First, the Pell Grant program would be shifted to a mandatory, appropriated entitlement. Second, the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan program and the move into a large direct lending program. Third, the Perkins loan program will increase from $1 billion to $6 billion. This change will also increase the participation rates for students and colleges.
The Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow to discuss the Administration's proposal for FFEL and direct lending.
In other testimony, Secretary Duncan noted that the Department is focused on ensuring that states are utilizing stimulus stabilization funds properly and on education.
Click here for Secretary Duncan's testimony.
Click here to view the hearing.
Read more!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Middle Class Task Force Meets on College Affordability
The White House Task Force on the Middle Class, headed by Vice President Joe Biden, held a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri to discuss college affordability. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Cecilia Rouse, of the Council on Economic Advisers, and Dr. Jill Biden, professor at Northern Virginia Community College were also part of the panel of the event. VP Biden outlined the goal of making college affordable through Pell Grants, student loans, tax credits and other means. VP Biden also called for the Treasury Department and the Secretary of Education to study ways of making 529 accounts more effective and reliable.
Additionally, the task force staff prepared a report outlining importance of higher education and the relative costs per sector. In the report, its states that community colleges play an important role in the affordability discussion. The task force staff report can be found here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/staff_report_college_affordability1.pdf Read more!
Additionally, the task force staff prepared a report outlining importance of higher education and the relative costs per sector. In the report, its states that community colleges play an important role in the affordability discussion. The task force staff report can be found here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/staff_report_college_affordability1.pdf Read more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
