Never in our history has a college education been more central to preparing our citizens to compete and excel in the global market, or more vital to maintaining America’s position at the vanguard of the world’s economy. The federal government can do a number of things to help ameliorate the high cost of a college education and help ensure that we are prepared to lead.

I’ll support a number of efforts and ideas to bring a college education within reach of our students, including:

• Adopting more aggressive incentives and tax benefits for college savings programs, whether by providing preferential interest rates or greater tax breaks for college savings accounts. 

• Devoting more resources to providing college scholarships and loan programs, particularly in specialty areas that America needs to focus on, such as health care industries, alternative energy, education, and science. 

• Directing more resources toward the GI Bill to assist veterans with college and post-secondary education expenses. 

• Expanding programs such as AmeriCorps to allow young people the opportunity to work off their college expenses, which will not only provide educational opportunities for more aspiring college students, but also teach them the value of civic service. 

• Strengthening and expanding our nation’s community college systems and their linkages to four-year colleges across America, so that entry into post secondary education is more affordable. 

• Supporting the expansion of Internet-based learning, to provide access to all students to the best teachers while minimizing relocation costs.