By Katlin Sweeney

Features Editor

With Barack Obama reelected to serve a second term as the President of the United States, his policies are of the utmost importance to the American people, especially college students.

For the next four years, Obama is focusing on job creation, cutting taxes, rebuilding America, investing in clean energy, revising education and affordable health care. To achieve a stronger job market, Obama plans to create 1 million new jobs in the manufacturing sector, as well as boosting the American economy by means such as getting rid of trade barriers that currently prohibit the increase of the exportation of American goods.

To cut taxes, Obama plans to revise spending and reduce the deficit. He wants to rebuild America by ending the war in Afghanistan by 2014 and using the money saved from ending it to put into lessening the debt and rebuilding roads and buildings that need it. Obama seeks to invest in clean energy that is created in America as another form of job creation and means of making the United States a frontrunner in the creation and use of clean energy. With health care, he plans to continue strengthening Obamacare, a program that places health care at the federal level rather than leaving it to the states’ jurisdiction.

If Obama’s plans prove successful, they will be benefitting from a stronger job market and lower tax rates. This will result in a greater chance of them finding a stable job to support themselves, as well as less taxation, which prompts consumers to spend more money.

However, college students especially need to be aware of his policies since President Obama considers education one of his top priorities for the next four years. He seeks to make getting a college education more affordable, tuition cut in half by 2022, and to make America the country with the most college graduates in the world by 2020.

One of the ways that Obama has worked to achieve this is by making large investments in Pell Grants, something that has a huge impact on college students. Pell Grants, which is federal student aid that does not need to be repaid by the student it is awarded to, lead to more opportunities for students to afford college. Since scholarship and financial aid funds are limited, increasing the amount of funding given to students gives more of them an opportunity to afford school long enough to get their degrees. By getting more students graduating from college and educating more of the nation’s youth, this ensures that the next generation of workers will be qualified for better jobs, which also boosts the nation’s economy by getting more people to work.

Regardless of students’ political affiliations, President Obama’s policies will have a huge effect on their lives for the next four years, and it is extremely important that they stay informed on what changes or stays the same during his time in office.

*Information acquired from barackobama.com