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As compared to students with associate’s degrees, students with bachelor’s degree earn over 20% more. They also earn 97% more than students without a high school diploma and 50% more than students who have not studied beyond high school. It goes without saying that financial stability and earning power can be greatly enhanced with higher education.

This investment is obviously very important but sadly higher education in our country faces many issues. Issues such as student debt and skyrocketing tuition costs need to be compulsorily addressed and we are unable to do so especially because Congress is trapped in a gridlock.

In an effort to provide higher education access to the mass, our President has played a lead role with his understanding and insight. Taking a definite step away from partisan politics, he has initiated the right reforms realizing the benefits of developing an educated workforce.

One of the significant achievements of our President since he assumed office in 2009 is the $900 or more increase in the maximum award for grants and a 50% increase in the number of Pell Grant recipients. Colleges in our country are definitely more affordable after this considerable expansion of encouraging low-income students by offering them financial aid.

President Obama’s Pay As You Go program addresses the concern of rising student debt. This program caps the student loan payments at ten percent of their monthly income. As students move on to workforce from college, they are able to transition smoothly after establishing themselves financially.

Another effective program initiated by our President to move our higher education forward is the incentive program that awards universities and colleges experimenting with new ways to save money. Schools that encourage students to pursue higher education by reducing costs through providing them with various alternative options such as online classes for certain subjects, competency-based graduate requirements and high school partnership programs are given appropriate incentives.

To help students of our country identify universities and colleges offering high quality education at reasonable rates, Obama has proposed a new rating system. Schools are encouraged to self-reform and students are aided with making decisions that are financially feasible. All these efforts are geared solely in saving student money.

Many Democrats in the Congress have followed the footsteps of our president and have invested in higher education. Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 for example was fully supported by Baldwin. At least 60 million was removed from banks causing major changes in the federal student loan program.

A recent bill that advocated cutting student loan interest rates by 50% to reduce their burden of debt was supported by Baldwin who also supported Pell Grants expansion. The Higher Ed Lower Debt bill was passed by the Wisconsin state legislature in a bid to help students pursue higher education with minimal burden.

This program allowed students to reduce their student loan burden by lowering their interest rates through refinancing. President Obama says that higher education is an economic imperative and not a luxury. It is the need of the hour to invest in affordable higher education and develop a strong and sustained educated workforce.