The goal is a key part of the president’s long-term economic plan: Only by having an educated
workforce, he argues, can the country hope to stay competitive. For a
president who’s running for a second term in large part on having the
plans to make the right improvements to the economy, this is a central
part of his argument on the central issue of the election.
But the realities of ballooning costs, budget cuts and underprepared
students are in his way. If gains were to continue at the same rate they
have on average for the past five years, it would take until 2036 for
the country to reach Obama’s goal for 60 percent of Americans ages 25-34
to have college degrees, based on a POLITICO analysis using methodology
suggested by the Education Department. In 2011, only 43.1 percent of
this group had college degrees.Still, as the president outlines his economic plan, he vows to make the jump from 16th in the world to first. “I want to make sure that the United States of America once again has the highest percentage of college graduates because that is going to help determine who wins the race in this global economy in the 21st century,” he said last week at a San Antonio fundraiser, as he often does on the campaign trail. And he’s still pushing new education initiatives, such as one aimed at promoting excellence for African-American students that he created with an executive order signed on Thursday.
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