Speaking at the University of Michigan today, President Barack Obama blasted rising college costs and called for a “report card” that families can use to check the true cost of attendance.
Michigan families now have that information in a special report on college costs published in Bridge Magazine earlier this month.
Obama echoed the findings of that report in Ann Arbor, calling for a federal “Race to the Top” for college affordability, in which federal aid would be tied to student costs.
“We should push colleges to do better,” Obama told an enthusiastic crowd. “And we should hold them accountable if they don’t.”
An analysis by Bridge revealed that Michigan families pay more for an education at our state’s public universities than families in most other states pay to attend their state’s public schools.
A major factor in those costs is decreasing state support of public universities. As state support drops, tuition increases. Michigan is in the bottom 10 in the nation in higher education funding.
“Parents and students need to know how well a school is doing, how affordable it is,” Obama said. “You should know how well a college stacks up. We want to push more information out so consumers of higher education know what it is you’re getting.”
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