College for the Unemployed

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/dialog/news/2009/05/11/unemployed

On the heels of an administration that sometimes acted as if higher education could do little right, college leaders now have in the White House a president who seems to think their institutions have the answers to many of the country's problems.

From economic recovery to scientific discovery, President Obama has put higher education front and center in many of his most important policy goals. And on Friday, he added unemployment as the latest problem he believed colleges (and particularly community colleges) were uniquely positioned to help solve, and announced a relaxation of federal rules to make it easier for unemployed Americans to get more education or training.

"In a 21st century economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, education is the single best bet we can make -- not just for our individual success, but for the success of the nation as a whole," the president said in a speech during which he detailed government data showing 539,000 new unemployed workers in April. "So if we want to help people not only get back on their feet today but prosper tomorrow, we need to take a rigorous new approach to higher education and technical training. And that starts by changing senseless rules that discourage displaced workers from getting the education and training they need to find and fill the jobs of the future."

If the new president seems to have an almost automatic inclination to assume that higher education has the answers to federal problems, he usually cites data to back it up. "Right now, someone who doesn't have a college degree is more than twice as likely to be unemployed as someone who does," Obama said Friday.

Yet existing federal rules actually impede the ability of unemployed workers to go back for training, the president noted. Some states strip unemployed workers of insurance benefits if they enroll in certain kinds of education or training programs, deeming them to no longer be searching for a job. And federal financial aid regulations generally require college aid administrators to use the salary from an applicant's former job and his or her unemployment income in calculating eligibility for Pell Grants or other federal aid, often restricting eligibility.

"Well, that doesn't make much sense for our economy or our country," Obama said. "So we're going to change it. First, we'll open new doors to higher education and job training programs to recently laid-off workers who are receiving unemployment benefits. And if those displaced workers need help paying for their education, they should get it -- and that's why the next step is to make it easier for them to receive Pell Grants."

FULL story at link.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. Training for what jobs?

I'll put up my BA in premed and my Juris Doctor up. I don't need any damn retraining after 3 degrees and 12 years in college.

:grr: :banghead: