Remarks About a Special Message to the Congress on Higher Education.

TODAY I have sent to the Congress my proposals on a subject vitally important to the future of the Nation--higher education.

Let me first address myself to young people who are thinking of going to college. Under the plan I am proposing today, no qualified student who wants to go to college would be barred from doing so by the lack of money.

Through a combination of student aid and a new Student Loan Association that would make it possible for any student to get a loan, you could afford to go to college no matter what your family's income might be.

Now, it would not be a free ride. You would probably have to work; and you would be expected to pay back the loan when you got a good job. But the important thing is you could afford to go to college, regardless of the income of your family.

I am also proposing a new National Foundation for Higher Education, funded with $200 million in its first year, to give grants to colleges in support of excellence and new ideas.

Our colleges, our technical schools, our great universities need this stimulus now to encourage diversity, to set new and higher standards for education.

A century ago, Benjamin Disraeli said: "Upon the education of the people of this country, the fate of this country depends."

For the future of so many of our young people, and for the quality of life of this Nation, I urge the Congress to act promptly on the Higher Education Act of 1970.