Candice Williams, Marisa Schultz and James Lynch / The Detroit NewsWarren -- President Barack Obama took to a stage in Warren Tuesday afternoon and provided an outline of his plan to overhaul the nation's community college system -- something he described as an "undervalued" resource. At the heart of his plan is the goal for the United States to have the highest percentage of college graduates among all nations. "Today, I am announcing the most significant down payment yet on reaching this goal in the next 10 years," Obama said at Macomb Community College. "It's called the American Graduation Initiative. It will reform and strengthen community colleges from coast to coast so that they get the resources students and schools need -- and the results workers and businesses demand." The president cited projections showing that jobs requiring associate degrees will grow twice as fast in the coming years as those that don't require a degree. Advertisement"Through this plan, we seek to help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates in the next decade," Obama said. Getting the nation to that level will require major investments. Under the plan, the federal government would back $10 billion in federal loans to renovate community college classrooms across the country. In addition, he proposed creation of an "online, open source clearing house" of college courses allowing students to access education courses remotely. The MCC students who listened to the president unveil the initiative are part of a Michigan community college system that is bursting at the seams with record enrollment. The number of students among the state's 28 community colleges reached nearly 235,000 last year, and online enrollment topped 52,000 as more displaced workers head back to school for training and high school graduates can't afford a university education. "Clearly, capacity is an issue there," said Michael Hansen, president of the Michigan Community College Association. "There's far more demand than there is supply for online enrollment. Money would be a big help." White House officials say the $12 billion program will be spread over a decade. It includes $9 billion to fuel community college challenge grants, $2.5 billion for construction and renovation of buildings (to leverage $10 billion in loans) and $500 million for online curriculum development. The initiative will get under way within the first six months of 2010, officials said. "This is history," Sam Adams, 25, of St. Clair Shores said about Obama's speech. "It's exciting (Obama) is coming to Michigan to talk about what he's going to do for us." Adams was among the roughly 2,000 students, faculty and local dignitaries who won tickets in a lottery and who started to line up more than three hours before Obama was to speak outside the college's Advanced Technology Center. About 70 percent of the tickets were distributed by the college, and the rest went to local dignitaries and organized labor leaders. Detroit City Council candidate Gary Brown, former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, Detroit Regional Chamber director Richard Blouse, state Democratic Party chairman Mark Brewer and AFSCME local president John Riehl were among those with tickets. Brown said he got his ticket from a union representative. "Let's hear what the president has to say," he said. Obama's speech at MCC's South Campus was his first in Michigan as president. His visit will be brief since he'll be throwing out the first pitch tonight at the baseball All-Star Game in St. Louis. He arrived at Selfridge Air National Guard base in Harrison Township at about 2:40 p.m. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, flew on Air Force One with him. After exiting the plane, he chatted with Gov. Jennifer Granholm, climbed in his motorcade and left for MCC at about 3 p.m. A small crowd had gathered across the street from the 127th Wing Base Operations Building by noon Tuesday, hoping to catch a glimpse of the president after Air Force One touched down. The crowd consisted mostly of the media and retirees from the base. William McKinney, 70, of Clinton Township was among them. "I'm excited, and hopefully I'll be able to see the president," the retired aircraft electronic technician said. He was joined by his wife, Bertha, and their 9-year-old grandson, Devlin. Devlin, like his grandfather, was hoping to see the president. "I've seen him on television before," he said. "I'm hoping to see him in person." Sharlonda Buckman, executive director of the Detroit Parent Network, said she was there to hear what Obama has to say about education. "Education is one of the biggest priorities right now, and it sounds like he cares what is happening in Detroit and Michigan," she said. The Michigan State Police had more than a dozen mounted troopers circling the speech site to keep protesters away. A few dozen protesters instead gathered along a side street entrance carrying signs urging Obama to stop federal spending. In the hours leading up to the speech, several dozen protesters from various causes lined up on a side street along the community college to demonstrate. Afterwards, they headed to 12 Mile, a more visible location. Some held up large signs against government spending and abortion, and calling for a more green job creation. One protester, Kim Cipriani, 48, of New Haven, showed up to protest with about 65 members of the Macomb County Republican Party. Their concern was government spending. "If he wants to be president, he has to work," Cipriani said of Obama. "He needs to try to figure out a way not to spend and create more jobs." "This is a huge day for Michigan and for Macomb Community College for the governor's No Worker Left Behind Programs," said Andy Levin, deputy director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. Under the program, more than 65,000 unemployed workers have gained free tuition for up to two years to earn training in industries the state hopes to lure. And many of the displaced workers have turned to community colleges, which are "bursting at the seams," Levin said. The initiative could help community colleges boost capacity, transfer more curriculum to online programs and expand lab space in key programs, Hansen said. Already 52,000 students are enrolled in the Michigan Community College Association's Virtual Learning Collaborative, which allows students to take courses from other member colleges while still receiving support services at their "home" college and pay the same tuition rate regardless. However, Hansen cautioned: "Low-interest loans are nice, but they are still loans. When colleges are struggling financially, I don't know if they will take on more debt." Michigan has the nation's highest unemployment rate at 14.1 percent, driven by the steep decline in manufacturing jobs precipitated by the downturn in the auto industry. Nationwide, the unemployment rate is 9.5 percent, a 26-year high. The major community college initiative will help Obama achieve his goal of increasing enrollment by 5 million students by 2020, bringing the total to 11 million students. About 6 million Americans attend community colleges, officials said. Kyle Kreshover, 19, a University of Michigan public policy student who is interning with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, said the president's message on how to improve higher education is important. "The costs are going up, and anything that controls that is good," he said. Between the federal stimulus package and his education budget, Obama has taken significant steps during his presidency to boost access to higher education. Limits on the federal Pell Grant program increased from $4,731 last year to $5,350 this year and are proposed to increase to $5,500 in 2010. More money was added to the federal work study program under the stimulus package. And the American Opportunity Tax Credit increased from $1,800 in 2008 to $2,500 in 2009 and 2010 to cover money spent on educational expenses helping families who make up to $160,000 a year. Michigan also received $183 million in federal work force investment act stimulus dollars that helps fund the No Worker Left Behind program, Levin said. "In a very short period of time, President Obama has turned Americans' sights toward what we really need to do to help every young person who wants to go to college and every worker who needs to get retrained," Levin said. "And that's a very hopeful development." cwilliams@detnews.com (586) 468-0529 Detroit News Staff Writers David Josar and Dave Shepardson contributed to this report.
Warren -- President Barack Obama took to a stage in Warren Tuesday afternoon and provided an outline of his plan to overhaul the nation's community college system -- something he described as an "undervalued" resource. At the heart of his plan is the goal for the United States to have the highest percentage of college graduates among all nations.
"Today, I am announcing the most significant down payment yet on reaching this goal in the next 10 years," Obama said at Macomb Community College. "It's called the American Graduation Initiative. It will reform and strengthen community colleges from coast to coast so that they get the resources students and schools need -- and the results workers and businesses demand."
The president cited projections showing that jobs requiring associate degrees will grow twice as fast in the coming years as those that don't require a degree.
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"Through this plan, we seek to help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates in the next decade," Obama said.
Getting the nation to that level will require major investments. Under the plan, the federal government would back $10 billion in federal loans to renovate community college classrooms across the country. In addition, he proposed creation of an "online, open source clearing house" of college courses allowing students to access education courses remotely.
The MCC students who listened to the president unveil the initiative are part of a Michigan community college system that is bursting at the seams with record enrollment.
The number of students among the state's 28 community colleges reached nearly 235,000 last year, and online enrollment topped 52,000 as more displaced workers head back to school for training and high school graduates can't afford a university education.
"Clearly, capacity is an issue there," said Michael Hansen, president of the Michigan Community College Association. "There's far more demand than there is supply for online enrollment. Money would be a big help."
White House officials say the $12 billion program will be spread over a decade. It includes $9 billion to fuel community college challenge grants, $2.5 billion for construction and renovation of buildings (to leverage $10 billion in loans) and $500 million for online curriculum development. The initiative will get under way within the first six months of 2010, officials said.
"This is history," Sam Adams, 25, of St. Clair Shores said about Obama's speech. "It's exciting (Obama) is coming to Michigan to talk about what he's going to do for us."
Adams was among the roughly 2,000 students, faculty and local dignitaries who won tickets in a lottery and who started to line up more than three hours before Obama was to speak outside the college's Advanced Technology Center.
About 70 percent of the tickets were distributed by the college, and the rest went to local dignitaries and organized labor leaders.
Detroit City Council candidate Gary Brown, former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, Detroit Regional Chamber director Richard Blouse, state Democratic Party chairman Mark Brewer and AFSCME local president John Riehl were among those with tickets.
Brown said he got his ticket from a union representative. "Let's hear what the president has to say," he said.
Obama's speech at MCC's South Campus was his first in Michigan as president. His visit will be brief since he'll be throwing out the first pitch tonight at the baseball All-Star Game in St. Louis. He arrived at Selfridge Air National Guard base in Harrison Township at about 2:40 p.m. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, flew on Air Force One with him. After exiting the plane, he chatted with Gov. Jennifer Granholm, climbed in his motorcade and left for MCC at about 3 p.m.
A small crowd had gathered across the street from the 127th Wing Base Operations Building by noon Tuesday, hoping to catch a glimpse of the president after Air Force One touched down.
The crowd consisted mostly of the media and retirees from the base. William McKinney, 70, of Clinton Township was among them.
"I'm excited, and hopefully I'll be able to see the president," the retired aircraft electronic technician said. He was joined by his wife, Bertha, and their 9-year-old grandson, Devlin.
Devlin, like his grandfather, was hoping to see the president.
"I've seen him on television before," he said. "I'm hoping to see him in person."
Sharlonda Buckman, executive director of the Detroit Parent Network, said she was there to hear what Obama has to say about education.
"Education is one of the biggest priorities right now, and it sounds like he cares what is happening in Detroit and Michigan," she said.
The Michigan State Police had more than a dozen mounted troopers circling the speech site to keep protesters away. A few dozen protesters instead gathered along a side street entrance carrying signs urging Obama to stop federal spending. In the hours leading up to the speech, several dozen protesters from various causes lined up on a side street along the community college to demonstrate. Afterwards, they headed to 12 Mile, a more visible location. Some held up large signs against government spending and abortion, and calling for a more green job creation.
One protester, Kim Cipriani, 48, of New Haven, showed up to protest with about 65 members of the Macomb County Republican Party. Their concern was government spending.
"If he wants to be president, he has to work," Cipriani said of Obama. "He needs to try to figure out a way not to spend and create more jobs."
"This is a huge day for Michigan and for Macomb Community College for the governor's No Worker Left Behind Programs," said Andy Levin, deputy director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth.
Under the program, more than 65,000 unemployed workers have gained free tuition for up to two years to earn training in industries the state hopes to lure. And many of the displaced workers have turned to community colleges, which are "bursting at the seams," Levin said.
The initiative could help community colleges boost capacity, transfer more curriculum to online programs and expand lab space in key programs, Hansen said. Already 52,000 students are enrolled in the Michigan Community College Association's Virtual Learning Collaborative, which allows students to take courses from other member colleges while still receiving support services at their "home" college and pay the same tuition rate regardless. However, Hansen cautioned: "Low-interest loans are nice, but they are still loans. When colleges are struggling financially, I don't know if they will take on more debt."
Michigan has the nation's highest unemployment rate at 14.1 percent, driven by the steep decline in manufacturing jobs precipitated by the downturn in the auto industry. Nationwide, the unemployment rate is 9.5 percent, a 26-year high.
The major community college initiative will help Obama achieve his goal of increasing enrollment by 5 million students by 2020, bringing the total to 11 million students. About 6 million Americans attend community colleges, officials said.
Kyle Kreshover, 19, a University of Michigan public policy student who is interning with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, said the president's message on how to improve higher education is important.
"The costs are going up, and anything that controls that is good," he said.
Between the federal stimulus package and his education budget, Obama has taken significant steps during his presidency to boost access to higher education. Limits on the federal Pell Grant program increased from $4,731 last year to $5,350 this year and are proposed to increase to $5,500 in 2010.
More money was added to the federal work study program under the stimulus package. And the American Opportunity Tax Credit increased from $1,800 in 2008 to $2,500 in 2009 and 2010 to cover money spent on educational expenses helping families who make up to $160,000 a year.
Michigan also received $183 million in federal work force investment act stimulus dollars that helps fund the No Worker Left Behind program, Levin said.
"In a very short period of time, President Obama has turned Americans' sights toward what we really need to do to help every young person who wants to go to college and every worker who needs to get retrained," Levin said. "And that's a very hopeful development."
cwilliams@detnews.com (586) 468-0529 Detroit News Staff Writers David Josar and Dave Shepardson contributed to this report.
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