Dive Brief:
- President Barack Obama plans to announce a new college affordability initiative on Friday.
- The President, along with Vice President Joe Biden, is traveling to Tennessee Friday and will make the higher education announcement at one stop and a manufacturing announcement at another.
- No details have been released by the White House, which said only that the President will “discuss new initiatives he will propose to help more Americans go to college and get the skills they need to succeed.”
Dive Insight:
According to the Tennessean, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam was honored by the White House in December for his Tennessee Promise scholarship program, which pays for two-year community college or applied technological college when students follow guidelines, with more than 50,000 high school seniors in the state applying so far. Whether that provides a hint at what will be announced is anybody’s guess. According to Bloomberg, Obama has planned a series of announcements this week across the country to counteract the media attention for Congressional Republicans embarking on their legislative agenda.