Obama education plan could affect KU
Since he has taken office, President Obama has been searching for ways to improve America; on the top of his list are hopeful, new college requirements.
Obama anticipates putting America in the lead of other nations when it comes to the amount of degrees earned. His plan is to spend over one billion dollars in bettering the college curriculum, and produce around five million more college graduates by 2020. With this said, many wonder how this may affect their college, Kutztown University in particular.
Although the plan is initially aimed at community colleges, it is projected that state colleges will be affected too, mostly in ways of stricter curriculums and an overall higher enrollment as a result of community college transfers. As of right now Kutztown holds about 10,700 full and part time students, a number that is sure to increase as the availability of student loans, grants, and scholarships increase due to Obama’s intended expenditures.
F. Javier Cevallos, Kutztown President, explains that, “as more students graduate with an Associate’s Degree, they will transfer in greater numbers to 4-year universities to complete their Bachelor’s degree, and thus we will see an increase in the number of transfer students coming to KU. We welcome transfer students, and we work with our local community colleges to make the transition as seamless as possible.” Cevallos did not address the question asked of KU’s plan for potential overcrowding.
Aaron Fritz, Kutztown junior and Psychology major, feels that this plan is a beneficial one. “It’s promoting a more useful and educated society,” Fritz states. “One of the keys of democracy is having a well informed and educated population. Hopefully this will promote a more diverse enrollment and more challenging studies at KU.”
Obama stated that the promotion of a college degree is the way forward, but what if colleges aren’t ready? Overcrowding and a greater student-to-teacher ratio are on the minds of many. “More attendance will hopefully lead to more funding and better growth, but I’m sure overcrowding would be an issue, it’s hard to speculate to what extent.” Fritz says. Without an answer from KU, now only time will tell.
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