OMB’s Peter Orszag at Georgetown: Education is Key to Economic Growth

OMB Director Peter Orszag spoke to students on Friday at the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute.  He discussed the White House’s efforts to stabilize America’s long-term fiscal trajectory, and  “delve[d] a bit more into the final topic of making new investments to promote growth — and, in particular, by expanding access to and the quality of education.” on his blog.

His specific proposals include “Permanently expanding Pell Grants to a $5,550 maximum award, indexing them to CPI+1 thereafter, and making the program mandatory will provide greater resources and greater certainty for students aspiring to college,” as well as modifying the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

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“Along with other steps, these types of efforts — increasing financial assistance, and making it less confusing to obtain — can help to expand college enrollment and completion and keep our economy growing for years to come.” -OMB Director Peter Orszag

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“The Administration is seeking to eliminate inconsequential questions and improve the intuitiveness of the electronic form.  The Department of Education is also piloting a system to transfer IRS tax data into a student’s FAFSA.” He wrote.

Speaking of the slowdown in generational advances in academic achievement, “This slowdown in the growth of educational attainment has largely corresponded in time with a significant slowdown in economic productivity — along with a significant increase in economic disparity.”  He noted that “This is one motivation for the President’s commitment to having the United States lead the world in the proportion of our population graduating college by 2020.”