This article was written by Molly Bloom for StateImpact.com
Education came second only to Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! in President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union remarks Tuesday night.
Making college less expensive for students continues to be a key talking point for the Obama administration. (The president highlighted student loan “Know Before You Owe” efforts in his speech at Shaker Heights High School near Cleveland earlier this month.) In the State of the Union, he pushed a package of state and federal policy changes to address rising student debt.

This article was originally published on August 1st by The Miami Herald.
 

Community colleges win in debt deal, but graduate students lose.

 
Top Pell grant schools in South Florida 1. Miami-Dade College $117 million
 
2. Broward College $63 million
3. Florida International University $53 million
4. Keiser School $40 million
5. Palm Beach State College $34 million
Source: usaspending.gov; figures are preliminary for 2010-2011

Graduate students wound up on the “Loser” list from Washington’s debt deal.
Tucked into the bill that would enact the $2.4 trillion debt-reduction plan is a provision that would force graduate students to pay interest on student loans while they’re still in school. Currently, Washington picks up the interest payments for graduate students while they attend school.

With students, parents and politicians all frustrated by high textbook costs, recent years have seen many innovations as well as state and federal legislation. Much of the latter has focused on requirements that involve providing information so students and professors can make sound choices. So new laws or proposals call for publishers to provide details about how different editions of books really are, and basic ordering information so students can comparison shop and colleges can have a stock of new and used options.