POTUS

Obama Unveils Plan to Curb College Costs

Schools would lower tuition or get less federal aid.

As prefaced in his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed a plan Friday to reduce college costs by tying federal student aid money to universities’ tuition rates and the value they provide graduates. Under the plan, colleges would be rewarded based on their success in offering lower tuition prices to benefit low-income students, the White House said in a statement. A key aspect of the plan is that it wouldn’t increase taxpayer dollars, because students would pay off aid money with interest. Obama announced the proposal before 4,000 students at the University of Michigan, who cheered, “Four more years!” The visit at Michigan was an official government event and the last stop on a three-day, five-state tour in which the president planned to spell out the ideas in his SOTU speech and appeal to the middle class.