Duncan Brings Obama Agenda to Congress: President Barack Obama’s goals of more college financial aid and an end to high school “dropout factories” will significantly increase opportunities for minority students, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told Congress on Wednesday.
In his first Capitol Hill appearance to outline the administration’s agenda, Duncan told members of the House Education and Labor Committee that proposed new investments in Pell Grants, campus-based Perkins Loans and work-study will help low-income students attend college. “We have to make college more affordable,” he said.
Another key Obama goal is that the U.S. lead the world in the proportion of college graduates by 2020. To support that aim, Duncan said, the administration is proposing an additional $17 billion to raise the maximum Pell Grant while work-study would receive an extra $200 million. Perkins Loans would increase from $1 billion to $6 billion."
