United States: Obama woos students vote bank

In an election year, it came as no surprise that President Barack Obamas State of the Union (SoU) address contained the now-familiar soaring rhetoric, as well as announcements designed to please students and recent graduates — voters who proved vital to his victory in 2008. However, with the power of the executive office to enact policy being limited, and with Republicans looking to oust him in Novembers election, there are doubts about how many of his lofty ambitions will be realised in the months ahead.In particular, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act cited by Obama in his SoU address in mid-January may prove a sticking point. Despite pledging soon after taking office to implement the Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who entered the US as minors, allowing them to receive in-state tuition-fee rates or federal loans, Obama has found it difficult to garner enough bipartisan support to do so. The legislation was filibustered and voted down in late 2010, and since then has lost the support of several high-profile Republicans, including the former presidential candidate John McCain, who do not want the Act passed without increased immigration enforcement. Nafsa, an Association of International Educators, released a policy document in November last year, urging the Obama administration to press ahead and not allow conservative factions in Congress to keep delaying the legislation. This situation can continue because we have become all too willing to play on the anti-immigration sides turf, the organisation said. Also highlighted by Obama in his address to Congress was the rising cost of college education. At an event at the University of Michigan on January 27, he expanded on his comments, which included the assertion that higher education cant be a luxury — its an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford. To this end, the president said that federal funds for campus-based aid programmes would be linked with responsible campus tuition (fee) policies. However, while the Obama administration has said that the measure is necessary to keep tuition fees from spiralling too high, the move has prompted some concerns. Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, believes the policy is effectively introducing price controls at a time when universities are struggling with budget cuts and increased demand from students for financial aid. President Obama also announced a new ‘Race to the Top scheme for college affordability, under which a $1 billion (Rs.4,800 crore) pot will be available for states willing to drive systemic change in their higher education policies. In addition to this, $55 million (Rs.275 crore) will be invested in a ‘First in the World competition, which the president hopes would find the next breakthrough strategy that will boost higher education attainment and student outcomes. Academic stereotypes study When dr. brent harger watched Henry Walton ‘Indiana Jones Jr, Ph D, leave his archaeology class in the middle of a lecture and set out to find the Holy…