Dissecting Obama's Message: Every American Goes to College?

From Doug Lederman at Inside Higher Ed:

Is it feasible for every American to have at least one year of postsecondary education or training? What would have to happen to make that possible? Would federal financial aid and other policies need to change? Would the distribution of students among different kinds of colleges have to change? . . . Those were among the many questions that college officials and higher education policy makers traded Wednesday as they contemplated the implications of President Obama's unexpected call in his Congressional address Tuesday night for a campaign to ensure that every American has 'at least one year or more of higher education or career training.' . . . [T]he president gave few details about exactly what he was proposing, forcing those seeking to analyze it to engage in a fair bit of tea leaf reading. They differed somewhat in their views of how much Obama's remarks departed from previous presidents' calls for expanding college opportunity; whether federal priorities and policies would be likely to change to achieve it (a question that could be partially answered today when the administration releases a first glance at its 2010 budget blueprint); and whether focusing more aggressively on getting those who've never been to college to get at least a little would conflict with the other goal the president laid out Tuesday night: 'by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.' . . . The overwhelming reaction of college leaders and others interviewed was elation, though . . . in the context of a trillion-dollar federal deficit—it [had] seemed likely that higher education would take a backseat to other priorities.