{"id":21391,"date":"2014-02-11T10:40:07","date_gmt":"2014-02-11T15:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=21391"},"modified":"2014-02-11T17:43:38","modified_gmt":"2014-02-11T22:43:38","slug":"marco-rubio-wants-to-change-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2014\/02\/11\/marco-rubio-wants-to-change-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Marco Rubio Wants To Change College"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sen.<\/a>

<\/p>

Sen. Marco Rubio wants to change higher education.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Sen. Marco Rubio was growing up, his parents gave him an edict:<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a very early age they used to tell us,\u00a0\u2018tu\u00a0tienes\u00a0que\u00a0estudiar<\/em>,\u2019 which means, \u2018you have to study.\u2019 So growing up I don\u2019t ever recall not considering going to college,\u201d Rubio told an audience at Miami-Dade College on Monday.<\/p>\n

Rubio talked at length about his education with a crowd of students, advocates and press at a summit presented by\u00a0The National Journal<\/em>\u00a0on Monday. He used his speech to outline what he calls the \u201cgrowing opportunity gap\u201d and explain what he would do to change higher education.<\/p>\n

Rubio described how, once he graduated from the University of Miami\u2019s law school, he was surprised he couldn\u2019t afford the repayments on his $100,000 student loan.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the central problems of our outdated higher education system is that it has become increasingly unaffordable for those who stand to benefit the most,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And even if students can afford it, Rubio thinks traditional college isn\u2019t a good investment for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to prepare people for the new economy using a higher education system built for the old economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some of his suggestions for changing higher education:<\/p>\n