President Barack Obama continued laying out his vision for America's educational system during his weekly address on Saturday. He toured the country this week touting his proposals to help make higher education more affordable. The basic message of his tour and during his address was, "we cannot price the middle class out of a college education."
Among his proposals include a national affordability rating system. This system would tie federal financial aid grants to a school's ranking to encourage students to attend high-performing colleges. Essentially, the lower the ranking, the less federal money a school might receive. President Obama also pushed a plan called "Pay-As-You-Earn," which would cap student loan repayments at 10 percent to allow students and families to reasonably pay down their debt.
The efforts to reduce higher education costs come at a time when tuition has skyrocketed, the average student loan debt has topped $26,000 and many families have found obtaining a college degree to be unaffordable.
"[Higher education] shouldn't be a luxury," President Obama said. "It's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford."
