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Obama’s higher education initiatives tend to redirect the role of colleges and universities in the U.S. His major statements and his administration’s actions have come to limelight. However, the larger picture of his higher education agenda has received very little attention. 8 important points in his agenda include -

1.    It is crucial to expand the undergraduate enrollments in the United States to a great extent. In his address to the joint session of Congress, Obama enunciated a new goal- Americans will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. In order to achieve this goal, we would need to double the number of college enrollments, which means about 40 millions students, would need to be enrolled to college degree programs by 2016.

2.    Colleges and Universities need to control tuition increases. Obama warned colleges and universities in his speech at the University of Michigan on January 27, 2012 that the funding they get from taxpayers will be reduced, if they cannot control tuition from going up.

3.    In the United States, everyone should go to college. In his state of the Union address in January 24, 2012, Obama stated that everyone should promise to work hard and earn enough money to raise a family, own a home and send their kids to college.

4.    The students who complete college education need to have progressive views about social justice.

5.    Colleges and universities should follow racial preferences in admissions. in a joint guidance from the  Civil Rights Office of Education Department and the Civil Rights office of the Justice department on December 2, 2011, the Obama administration stated that the colleges and universities need not follow race neutral approach, in case the approach would seem to be impracticable.

6.    Colleges and universities will be required to become accustomed with the de facto nationalization of K-12 curriculum that are implemented as state standards. These standards are supposedly the work of the Council of Chief State Officers and National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. However, the Obama Administration requires putting these standards in place in a practical manner. Obama initiated the “Race to the top” fund of the Department of Education. This encourages colleges and universities to take part in the common core to get federal subsidies.

7.    For-profit higher education is different from traditional for-profit higher education. Hence, they should be subject to strict regulatory controls. Though the Department of Education has taken steps to control the emerging for-profit sector, their rules have been revised. However, the Obama administration continues to make attempts to impede the growth of for-profit higher education sector, even it forces the expansion in the not for-profit sector.

8.    Colleges and universities need to encourage more students to pursue their careers in the science, math, technology and engineering students, so that more math and science teachers can come out. Day before yesterday (February 7), Obama announced a new plan to grant $100 million to help train 100,000 teachers over the next ten years.