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President Obama’s speech on education this morning provided few new details of his higher education agenda. He reiterated previously announced plans to raise Pell Grants, create a new tuition tax credit, expand direct lending for student loans, and simplify the FAFSA form, but — as far as I can tell — didn’t add any substantive new information about any of these proposals.
A transcript of the speech can be found here.
Quick updates on a bunch of stories we’ve been following…
- The University of North Carolina has become the twenty-first US campus to dump Russell Athletic in response to labor violations.
- A three-part analysis of the Power Shift 2009 conference: Background, Tactics, and The Future.
- A hundred NYU grad students held a “work-in” at Bobst Library yesterday afternoon.
- The economic crisis is leading students to transfer to cheaper colleges.
- Hillary Clinton has announced a million-dollar scholarship program for Palestinian students.
- President Obama will be providing major new details of his education plan at a speech this morning.
After the jump, excerpts from President Obama’s address to Congress last night on the subject of higher education.
The economic stimulus bill that Congress is scheduled to vote on today includes more than $150 billion in new education funding, according to the New York Times.
That number includes $6 billion in construction and renovation funds for colleges and universities, and an $8 billion increase in Pell Grant funding.
The Pell Grant hike would raise total government support for the program by nearly 50%.
Meanwhile, as the Times reported two weeks ago, colleges and universities spending on students has dropped in the last half-decade, while the proportion of the cost of education paid for by students has risen. (The study the Times drew those conclusions from can be found here.)
I was figuring today would be a slow news day on the York University strike. I figured wrong.
- The Liberal party is rejecting calls for a tuition refund.
- CUPE is planning a court challenge to the upcoming back-to-work legislation.
- More than a thousand students have signed on to a class-action lawsuit against York over their handling of the strike.
January 28 Update: CUPE won’t be challenging the BTW law after all. Classes at York should resume on Monday.

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