Former President Bill Clinton encouraged a large group gathered here for a luncheon at the annual Career College Association Convention to continue their work reaching out to poor students even though they get attacked for it.
He praised the for-profit-college sector and told its leaders not to be discouraged.
“Everybody needs a chance to live their dreams,” he said, to loud applause. “Anything you can do to develop human potential is important.” Mr. Clinton made those remarks during a question and answer period after giving the keynote speech at the close of the association’s three-day convention on Friday. Over 1,000 people came to the luncheon to hear him speak.
In his speech titled “Embracing Our Humanity” he described the world as unstable, inequitable, and unsustainable. However, he said, there is reason to be optimistic—and education has a lot to do with that.
The passage of the direct student loan program would go a long way to helping student realize their dreams, he said, noting that he doesn’t want the burden of loans to prohibit young people from becoming nurses, firefighters, or teachers.
The nation’s high schools, Mr. Clinton said, need to be nourished so more people can graduate and further their education. He also noted that there continues to be a sharp income divide between people who have two years of post-high school training and those who don’t.
“We’ve known that since the 1990 census,” he said.
He said the way to motivate students to further their education is to catch them when they are young and help them imagine themselves in a different place.
Mr. Clinton acknowledged that a lot of attention is paid to the United States’ slip in the rankings of countries with the most educated population. While he didn’t dismiss the importance of getting more people to complete a post-secondary degree, he said, “We don’t have to get bent out of shape over what they do.”
“A lot of these nations are doing what we did 50 years ago,” he said. “I don’t think it’s productive to be jealous of other people.”
