Obama's visit scheduled today focuses on ways he hopes to help curb rising college costs. Local colleges look forward to hearing more from the president.
Lackawanna College President Mark Volk Lackawanna College President Mark Volk’s administrative assistant couldn’t help being a little skeptical when the White House called last week to inquire if the private Scranton college was interested in hosting President Barack Obama.
“It was like, ‘Who is this really?’” Volk said of the conversation with administration officials.
But when it became clear the school really was being asked to host Obama for an event today, Volk said, there was only one answer.
“At least in my mind, there was no way to turn this down,” said Volk, a 1973 Easton Area High School graduate.
The whirlwind preparations for the visit began in earnest Monday, Volk said, and have been a central focus all week. The college moved its annual freshman orientation from today to Monday as a result.
Volk, whose father, Joseph Volk, taught electrical engineering at Lafayette College, said every student and faculty member can and is encouraged to attend the event. He hopes students realize this won't be a stump speech.
The visit comes on a two-day bus tour through New York that has focused on taming the soaring cost of higher education.
First for Lackawanna
Volk, who has been at the helm of the two-year college for more than a year, said today’s event will mark the first time in Lackawanna’s history that a sitting president has visited. Enrolling about 1,600 students — many of them commuters — and employing about 250 faculty and staff, the college is the kind of higher education destination Volk expects that Obama wants to highlight.
Providing certifications that can end in immediate employment or serve as a jumping off point for a four-year degree, Lackawanna must constantly try to stay within financial reach of its chiefly middle-class, prospective students, Volk said.
“In reality I think we represent a lot of what the president was talking about the last few years,” Volk said. “A student who has no money can come here for nothing. It’s about affordability. It’s not an easy equation to fix, but we certainly have to look at it.”
During his first stop Thursday on the speaking tour at the University of Buffalo, Obama unveiled a new college rating system that would rank institutions based on affordability and potentially help allocate future federal aid.
Volk called the college’s certification programs for vascular technicians or petroleum gas technicians “game changers” in a tough economy.
“This is important. It does allow us to showcase what we do,” Volk said of the visit, which is now scheduled to also include Vice President Joe Biden, a Scranton native. “We’re trying to be a regional and national model for helping students.”
Open dialogue is key
American higher education needs reform, Grigsby said, but the model is far from completely broken.
Grigsby said he believes the investment in an education at Moravian in Bethlehem is worthwhile but acknowledged that financial hardship is a growing problem in higher education. He said his school's high graduation rates -- as high as 97 percent for students who spend all four years there -- demonstrate success and could be a valuable metric.
“We’re all for keeping college rates more affordable while still meeting our mission,” he said, but noted that small classrooms with dedicated faculty don’t come cheap. “The administration has promised to include college presidents in this discussion and we hope they live up to that promise and actually ask the people living in the trenches.”
Heidi Butler, spokeswoman for Northampton Community College, said that while community colleges can help students keep costs down, sometimes even that price tag is too high a hurdle.
“That is a concern. So is accountability,” Butler said. “Colleges need to be able to prove that they are worth the investment of time and money.”
Volk said every budget year is harder than the year before and fundraising has become an increasingly important element to make ends meet at Lackawanna, which prides itself on its blue-collar roots. He said he worries about tuition hikes because they so directly affect his students.
“The whole issue is about finding a way to allow necessary education,” Volk said, “without bankrupting our students for the future.”
Targeting the soaring cost of higher education, President Barack Obama on Thursday unveiled a broad new government rating system for colleges that would judge schools on their affordability and perhaps be used to allocate federal financial aid.
Bringing his message today to Lackawanna College in Scranton, Obama proposes a system that could put millions of federal aid dollars for colleges and universities on the line if schools are downgraded under the government rating system.
The new rating system does not require congressional approval, and the White House is aiming to have it set up before the 2015 school year. But Obama does need support from Congress in order to use the ratings as a basis for parceling out federal financial aid.
In addition to tuition, schools will also be rated on average student loan debt, graduation rates and the average earnings of graduates. Under Obama’s proposal, students attending highly rated schools could receive larger grants and more affordable loans.
The rising cost of college has increasingly become a burden for many Americans. According to administration figures, the tuition costs at public, four-year universities has tripled over the past 30 years and average student loan debt stands at $26,000.The president is also seeking legislation to give colleges a “bonus” based on the number of students they graduate who received Pell Grants. The goal is to encourage colleges to enroll and graduate low- and moderate-income students.
Associated Press