奥巴马2015年3月14日演讲译文

奥巴马2015年3月14日演讲译文

Hi, everybody. Earlier this week, I visited with students at Georgia Tech to talk about the importance of higher education in the new economy, and how we can make it more affordable.

In an economy increasingly built on innovation, the most important skill you can sell is your knowledge. That’s why higher education is, more than ever, the surest ticket to the middle class.

But just when it’s never been more important, it’s also never been more expensive. The average undergrad who borrows to pay for college ends up graduating with about $28,000 in student loan debt.

大家好。本周早些时候，我与学生们参观了佐治亚技术学院，讨论了高等教育在新经济中的重要性问题，以及我们如何使它更加可承受。

在一个越来越建立在创新基础上的经济中，你可能出售的最重要的技能就是你的知识。这就是为什么高等教育比以往任何时候都是中产阶级的最牢靠的保票。

但是就在它从来没有这么重要的时候，它也从来没有这么昂贵过。借贷上大学的到毕业，一名本科生平均贷款大约28,000美元。

That’s why my Administration has worked hard to make college more affordable. We expanded tax credits and Pell Grants, enacted the largest reform to student loan programs in history, and fought to keep interest rates on student loans low. We’ve acted to let millions of graduates cap loan payments at 10 percent of their income, so they don’t have to choose between paying the rent and paying back their debt. I’ve sent Congress my plan to bring the cost of community college down to zero –because two years of higher education should be as free and universal as high school is today.

这就是为什么我的政府一直在努力使上大学更加可承受。我们扩大了税收减免和Pell资助的范围，实施了历史上学生贷款项目的最大改革，为保持学生贷款利率低而奋斗。我一直在行动让几百万本科生的还贷上限在他们的收入的10%，这样他们就不必在付房租和还贷之间取舍了。我已经向国会提交了我的把社区大学的成本降到零的计划--因为两年制高等教育应该像今天的高中一样免费和普及。

But all of us – elected officials, universities, business leaders –everybody – needs to do more to bring down college costs. Which is why this week, I unveiled another way that we can help more Americans afford college. It doesn’t involve any new spending or bureaucracy. It’s a simple declaration of values – what I call a Student Aid Bill of Rights. It says that every student deserves access to a quality, affordable education. Every student should be able to access the resources to pay for college. Every borrower has the right to an affordable repayment plan. And every borrower has the right to quality customer service, reliable information, and fair treatment, even if they struggle to repay their loans.

但是我们所有人——当选官员、大学、企业领导人——每个人——都需要为降低上大学的成本做更多。这就是为什么本周，我宣布了我们可以帮助更多美国人上得起大学的另一个途径。它不涉及任何新开销或官僚作风。它是一个简单的价值宣布——我称之为学生救助权利法案。它声明每个学生理应得到受高品质和可承受的高等教育的权利。每个学生应该能够获得交学费的资源。每个借贷人有获得可承受的还款计划的权利。每个借贷人有权利获得高品质客户服务、可靠的信息和公平的对待，即使他们还贷非常吃力。

That’s it. Just a few simple principles. But if we all rally around these principles, there’s a lot that colleges, lenders, and the people you sent to Washington and to your state legislatures can do to realize them across the country.