U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said increased college access and higher college completion rates are key U.S. higher education goals being targeted with stimulus package funding. Following President Barack Obama’s Tuesday announcement in Los Angeles of his education priorities, Duncan outlined specific K-12 and higher education goals in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.
“What we’re trying to do, and again this is an unprecedented level of resources, is dramatically increase access and opportunity. Over the next two years with over $31 billion that’s going to go into increased financial aid and grants to students more than 7 million students will get more money and 2.6 million students will get access to aid for the first time,” Duncan said.
“It’s an unprecedented commitment to increase access to college,” he added. The stimulus package, approved last month to revive the ailing U.S. economy, authorized a total of $787 billion in federal spending.
Duncan emphasized the administration wants to see college completion rates dramatically increased and has directed stimulus package towards that goal. Obama has challenged the U.S. higher education system to produce the world’s highest rate for college completion by 2020. According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States is ranked 10th among industrialized nations in the rate of associate degree completion and higher by adults aged 25 to 34. Thirty-nine percent of American adults 25 to 34 have completed an associate degree or higher.
