Cutting aid to colleges that do not keep tuition low and doubling the current number of available work-study jobs are highlights of the Obama administration's blueprint for keeping higher education affordable.
Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan discussed the blueprint with college journalists during a press conference call Thursday. The plan details proposed measures to increase financial aid and limit tuition increases.
While state governments handle public university funding and individual universities determine how to allocate their budgets, the federal government has the power to provide student financial aid.
Vice President Joe Biden said the president plans to put several programs into place in the coming year.
The administration plans to aid colleges that initiate programs that keep college affordable and reduce aid to colleges that do not keep tuition low.
The college's affordability will be based on the net tuition, which is what a student pays on average after considering scholarships and loans.
The administration also plans to expand existing federal student financial aid programs.
Biden said the government currently pays $980 million to fund 710,000 student work-study jobs. He said the president plans to double the number of work-study jobs available.
The president's goal is to make the U.S. the country with the highest percent of college graduates, Biden said. The U.S. is currently No. 17 on that list.
"Any country that out-educates us is going to out-compete us," Biden said.
