Obama expected to address job market in State of the Union; higher education, health care could be mentioned

Students may have a better idea of what to expect of the nation’s future job market after President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address at 9 p.m. today.

Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics and a former Central Michigan University Griffin Endowed Chair, said he would be surprised if Obama does not spend the bulk of the address on job creation and reducing unemployment.

Obama could discuss his plans to offer tax credits for parents with students enrolled in college, Ballenger said, though it is not known what the specifics of that legislation will be.

“There couldn’t be anything that would be more relevant it seems, to me, to students at CMU, their parents and who’s paying for higher education than that,” he said.

Ballenger does not believe higher education will be the major point in Obama’s speech because health care reform is still “the elephant in the room.”

“The ramifications of what happens with health care will impact us in a variety of ways,” said Student Government Association President and Mount Pleasant senior Jason Nichol. “We as voters, not just students, but as voters, have the fiduciary responsibility to become, I guess, well appraised on these issues that will really impact our nation.”

Other issues expected to be addressed include financial and banking reform, and a second stimulus package could also be in the works.

Maxine Berman, Griffin Endowed Chair and Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s director of Special Projects, said it is too early to tell if proposals included in a second stimulus package would affect universities or if it would include initiatives directly benefiting college students.

In addition to the myriad of issues she expects the president to address, Berman said Obama also may discuss his suggestions for reorganizing loan programs to help students. Like Ballenger, she anticipates Obama’s focus will be on unemployment.

“That is certainly an important issue for students,” Berman said. “I’m sure every single student … at Central Michigan University would like to know if … they’re going to be able to find a job when they graduate.”

Ballenger said the president’s general aim will be to prove to the American public that he’s concentrating on what middle-class families care about most and is re-calibrating the mission of his administration to cater to their needs.