U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. will give remarks at the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities’ annual meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15 in Austin, Texas. He will discuss the importance of college completion and the new face of today’s college students. In addition, King will urge states to invest in making higher education more affordable and accessible to all students. Following remarks, he will take questions from the audience.
The Obama Administration has made historic investments in student aid that have helped ensure college stays within reach for all Americans. The U.S. Department of Education has worked to make college more affordable and increase college success by doubling investments in Pell grants and tax credits to help students and their families pay for college, releasing better information on debt and outcomes through the College Scorecard, and allowing borrowers to affordably manage their debt through repayment options like President Obama’s Pay As You Earn (PAYE) plan, which caps monthly payments at 10 percent of income. The President’s budget includes funding for America’s College Promise, which would provide two years of free community college for responsible students through a $60.3 billion investment in a new federal-state partnership over the next 10 years.