Middle Class Task Force Meets on College Affordability

The White House Task Force on the Middle Class, headed by Vice President Joe Biden, held a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri to discuss college affordability. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Cecilia Rouse, of the Council on Economic Advisers, and Dr. Jill Biden, professor at Northern Virginia Community College were also part of the panel of the event. VP Biden outlined the goal of making college affordable through Pell Grants, student loans, tax credits and other means. VP Biden also called for the Treasury Department and the Secretary of Education to study ways of making 529 accounts more effective and reliable.

Additionally, the task force staff prepared a report outlining importance of higher education and the relative costs per sector. In the report, its states that community colleges play an important role in the affordability discussion. The task force staff report can be found here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/staff_report_college_affordability1.pdf