U.S. Education Department Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Eduardo Ochoa will visit Michigan May 11-12 to host a town hall meeting at a high school and a College Leader Roundtable discussion at Michigan State University, then give the commencement address at the University of Detroit Mercy McNichols. The events are part of a series of conversations the Department is having with students and families on college affordability.
On Friday, May 11 at 1 p.m. ET, Ochoa will visit Eastern High School in Lansing to deliver brief remarks and take questions from students, teachers and administrators. During the event, he will also share information about the Administration’s initiatives to make college more affordable, including increased grant aid, a variety of loan repayment options, and tax credits, to name a few. At 4 p.m. ET, Ochoa will continue the Administration’s message on college affordability with local and state college faculty and administrators at a College Leaders Roundtable meeting at Michigan State University in East Lansing, including a discussion on the Stafford subsidized student loan interest rate increase, which is scheduled to double on July 1, from 3.4 to 6.8 percent. In Michigan, more than 303,000 students will be attending colleges, universities, and other postsecondary schools in 2012-13, and each student will pay about $1,000 more in interest on their loan unless Congress acts to stop it.
On Saturday, May 12 at 1:30 p.m. ET, Ochoa, will give the commencement address at the University of Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus in Detroit. He will highlight the Department’s efforts to reach President Obama’s goal for America to be first in the world in college completion by the year 2020, and talk further about the Administration’s initiatives to make college more affordable.