Dept. Of Education Under Secretary Speaks At UW-Madison

A federal Department of Education official speaking in Wisconsin this week brought both a compliment and a warning.

Department of Education Under Secretary Martha Kanter spoke with students and faculty at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison. She praised the increasing cooperation between the UW and the technical college system that allows more credits to be transferred between institutions.

According to Kanter, such cooperation is in line with similar efforts by the Obama administration. She says the goal is to increase the number of students completing college degrees while maintaining high academic standards.

“So if that student becomes an auto mechanic or a plant foreman and then wants to go back and get an education at a later time, or get the education while they’re still working, they would the standard that the college would enable them to meet.”

Kanter also warned UW administrators that the current sequester process will eliminate about 70,000 campus work study slots nationwide – slots many students depend on to help cover their living expenses while they study. She says the president’s budget, due to be released today, includes proposals for simplifying the student loan application process to help students choose the best way to pay for their education.

“Student behavior is to pull out a credit card first, maybe take a private loan because they get marketed, and then figure out that they might have taken a federal direct loan and had a 3.4 percent interest rate, or a Pell Grant, or whatever. So we’ve got to help people understand the choices that they have today…”

She also predicted a heated debate about the scheduled doubling of the interest rate on student loans, from 3. 4 percent to 6.8 percent, scheduled to kick in this July.