Biden focuses on affordable higher education during Missouri visit

ST. LOUIS -- Vice President Joe Biden on Friday pledged to close gaps between family incomes and college costs to make higher education a reality for more American students.

Biden said he will ask the Treasury Department to look into how to make family college-savings plans more effective and reliable. Many families save for college in tax-deferred plans known as 529s. Biden said the government will consider options such as low-interest loans against those plans to help families pay for school.

He spoke of the Obama administration's efforts to improve tax breaks for families trying to pay for college and increased need-based grants for middle class and poor families. "We're going to make a series of investments, investments in our families and our students," he said.

About 300 people attended the town hall-style meeting Friday morning at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Biden was joined by fellow Democrats Gov. Jay Nixon and Sen. Claire McCaskill, as well as U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. His wife, Jill, who is an educator, also attended.

It was the third meeting of the Middle Class Task Force, a Biden-led group of Cabinet members and administration officials.

To make college more affordable, the administration is seeking to extend its American Opportunity Tax Credit beyond 2010, which can be claimed for four years of college to a maximum of $2,500 a year. It already has worked to increase funding for the Pell Grant program, which provides need-based assistance, but wants a system in place so money would automatically go to the program every year.

Biden said work should be done to consolidate student loan programs, to cut out private student lenders who currently act as middlemen on many federal student loans. He said that could save $94 billion over a decade. "We can take the $94 billion and reinvest it in more loans, more grants and more access to college," he said.

Biden said some critics say the administration is overreaching, spending too much and trying to take on too much. He said the nation must move forward as it tries to fix the recession.

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said in a written statement that he has been hearing from many Missourians in recent weeks who believe President Obama and the Congress are spending too much money at a time when Americans are tightening their own belts.

"I hope while in Missouri, Vice President Biden listens to Missourians who are saying loud and clear that the administration's budget taxes too much, borrows too much, and spends too much," he said.

Biden also planned to announce a new program to train Missouri youths for future jobs during a visit to a boys and girls club Friday afternoon.

Biden arrived in Missouri on Thursday, visiting Whiteman Air Force Base and a transformer factory in Jefferson City, where he highlighted benefits of the federal stimulus package.