So it’s no wonder that the amount student borrowers owe has risen almost 25 percent just over the last five years.  Think about that.  Just in the last five years, the debt of students has done up 25 percent.

And this isn’t some abstract policy for me.  I understand this personally, because Michelle and I, we had big loans to pay off when we graduated.  I remember what that felt like, especially early in your career where you don’t make much money and you’re sending all those checks to all those companies.  And that’s why I'm absolutely committed to making sure that here in America, nobody is denied a college education, nobody is denied a chance to pursue their dreams, nobody is denied a chance to make the most of their lives just because they can’t afford it.  (Applause.)  We are a better country than that, and we need to act like we’re a better country than that.  (Applause.)

Now, there are a couple of components to this.  Part of the responsibility for controlling these costs falls on our colleges and universities.  Some of them are stepping up.  Public institutions like the University of Maryland, University of North Carolina, some private institutions like Cornell, they’re all finding ways to combat rising tuition（学费） without compromising on quality.  And I know that your president is looking at some of these same approaches to make sure that the actual costs of college are going down.  I want to challenge every university and college president to get a handle on spiraling（盘旋的） costs.

So university administrators need to do more to make college more affordable.  But we, as a nation, have to do more, as well. So that’s why we fought so hard to win a battle that had been going on in Washington for years, and it had to do with the federal student loan program.

See, under the old system, we’d pay banks and financial companies billions of dollars in subsidies（补贴，津贴） to act as middlemen. See, these loans were guaranteed by the federal government.  But we’d still pass them through banks, and they’d take out billions of dollars in profits.  So it was a good deal for them, but it wasn’t a very good deal for you.  And because these special interests were so powerful, this boondoggle（手工品，细小而无用的事） survived year after year, Congress after Congress.

This year, we said, enough is enough.  (Applause.)  We said we could not afford to continue subsidizing special interests to the tunes of billions of dollars a year at the expense of taxpayers and of students.  So we went to battle against the lobbyists and a minority party that was united in their support of this outrageous（粗暴的，可恶的） status quo（现状） .  And, Texas, I am here to report that we won.  (Applause.)   We won.  (Applause.)

So as a result, instead of handing over $60 billion in subsidies to big banks and financial institutions over the next decade, we’re redirecting that money to you, to make college more affordable for nearly 8 million students and families across this country.  Eight million students will get more help from financial aid because of these changes.  (Applause.)

We’re tripling how much we’re investing in the largest college tax credit for our middle-class families.  And thanks to Austin’s own Lloyd Doggett -- (applause) -- that tax credit is now worth $2,500 a year for two years of college.  And we want to make it permanent so it’s worth $10,000 over four years of college -- $10,000.  (Applause.)

And because the value of Pell grants has fallen as the cost of college keeps going up, the cap on how much Pell grants are worth, we have decided to offer more support for the future so the value of Pell grants don’t erode（侵蚀） with inflation, they keep up with inflation.  And we’re also making loan repayments more manageable for over 1 million more students in the coming years, so students at UT-Austin, and across this country, don’t graduate with massive loan payments each month.  All right, that's -- we’re working on that right now.  (Applause.)

Now, I should mention, by the way, we’re also making information more widely available about college costs and completion rates so you can make good decisions.  You can comparison-shop.  And we’re simplifying financial aid forms by eliminating dozens of unnecessary questions.  You should not have to take -- you should not have to have a PhD to apply for financial aid.  (Applause.)  You shouldn’t have to do it.  (Applause.)  I want a bunch of you to get PhDs, don’t get me wrong.  I just don’t want you to have to do it for your financial aid form.  (Laughter.)  #p#分页标题#e#

So if you’re married, for example, you don’t need to answer questions anymore about how much money your parents have made.  If you’ve lived in the same place for at least five years, you don’t need to answer questions about your place of residency（住处） .  Soon, you’ll no longer need to submit information you’ve already provided on your taxes.  And that’s part of the reason why we’ve seen a 20 percent jump in financial aid applications, because we’re going to make it easier and make the system more accessible.  (Applause.)

So college affordability is the first part of the strategy that we’re pursuing.  The second part is making sure that the education being offered to our college students -- especially, by the way, our students at community colleges -- (applause) -- that it’s preparing them to graduate ready for a career.  See, institutions like the UT are essential to our future, but community colleges are, too.  (Applause.)  They are great, under-appreciated assets that we have to value and we have to support. (Applause.)

So that’s why we’re upgrading our community colleges, by tying the skills taught in our classrooms to the needs of local businesses in the growth sectors of our economy.  And we’re giving companies an assurance that the workers they hire will be up to the job.  We’re giving students the best chance to succeed. We’re also that way giving America the best chance to thrive and to prosper.  And that’s why we’re also reinvesting in our HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions -- (applause) -- like Huston-Tillotson and St. Edwards.  (Applause.)

The third part of our strategy is making sure every student completes their course of studies.  I want everybody to think about this.  Over a third of America’s college students and over half of our minority students don’t earn a degree, even after six years.  So we don’t just need to open the doors of college to more Americans; we need to make sure they stick with it through graduation.  That is critical.  (Applause.)

And that means looking for some of the best models out there.  There are community colleges like Tennessee’s Cleveland State that are redesigning remedial（治疗的，补救的） math courses and boosting not only student achievement but also graduation rates.  And we ought to make a significant investment to help other states pick up on some of these models.

So we’ve got to lift graduation rates.  We’ve got to prepare our graduates to succeed in this economy.  We’ve got to make college more affordable.  That’s how we’ll put a higher education within reach for anybody who is willing to work for it.  That’s how we’ll reach our goal of once again leading the world in college graduation rates by the end of this decade.  That’s how we’ll lead the global economy in this century, just like we did in the last century.  (Applause.)

When I look out at all the young people here today, I think about the fact that you are entering into the workforce at a difficult time in this country’s history.  The economy took a body blow from this financial crisis and this great recession that we’re going through.  But I want everybody here to remember, at each and every juncture（接缝，连接） throughout our history we’ve always recognized that essential truth that the way to move forward, in our own lives and as a nation, is to put education first.

It’s what led Thomas Jefferson to leave as his legacy（遗赠，遗产） not just the Declaration of Independence but a university in Virginia.  (Applause.)  It’s what led a nation that was being torn apart by civil war to set aside acreage（面积，英亩数） , as a consequence of President Lincoln’s vision, for the land-grant institutions to prepare farmers and factory workers to seize the promise of an Industrial Age.  It’s what led our parents and grandparents to put a generation of returning GIs through college, and open the doors of our schools and universities to people of all races, which broadened opportunity, and grew our middle class, and produced a half a century of prosperity.  (Applause.) 

And that recognition -– that here, in this great country of ours, education and opportunity, they always go hand in hand -– that’s what led the first president of the University of Texas to say, as he dedicated the cornerstone of the original Main Building:  “Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, and fountains of unstinted（不吝惜的，足够的） wealth will gush forth.”

That’s the promise at the heart of UT-Austin.  But that is also the promise at the heart of our colleges and of our universities, and it is the promise at the heart of our country  –- the promise of a better life; the promise that our children will climb higher than we did.  That promise is why so many of you are seeking a college degree in the first place.  That’s why your families #p#分页标题#e#scrimped and saved（节俭） to pay for your education.

And I know that as we make our way through this economic storm, some of you may be worried about what your college degree will be worth when you graduate, and how you’re going to fare in this economy, and what the future holds.  But I want you to know, when I look out at you –- when I look into the faces of America’s young men and women –- I see America’s future, and it reaffirms my sense of hope.  It reaffirms my sense of possibility.  It reaffirms my belief that we will emerge from this storm and we will find brighter days ahead, because I am absolutely confident that if you keep pouring yourselves into your own education, and if we as a nation offer our children the best education possible, from cradle（摇篮，发源地） through career, not only will America -- workers compete and succeed, America will compete and succeed.  (Applause.)

And we will complete this improbable（不太可能的） journey that so many of you took up over three years ago.  And we’re going to build an America where each of us, no matter what we look like or where we come from, can reach for our dreams and make of our lives what we will.  (Applause.)

Thank you, Austin.  Thank you, Texas.  God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)  Thank you. Good luck to the T.

 END 2:29 P.M. CDT