Obama's Weekly Address WEEKLY ADDRESS: Everyone Should Be Able To Afford Higher Education
奥巴马每周电视讲话:总统希望人人都能负担得起学费
Hi, everybody.
大家好！
Over the next couple weeks, schools all across the country will be opening their doors.
未来几个星期，全美各地的学校将陆续开学。
Students will suit up for fall sports, marching band, and the school play; moms and dads will snap those first-day-of-school pictures-and that includes me and Michelle.
学生们将穿上校服重返校园，参加学校的运动队、仪仗队、演奏团等；而爸爸妈妈们也会一起欣赏这些开学日的照片。这些父母当中也包括我和米歇尔。
And so today, I want to talk directly with students and parents about one of the most important things any of you can do this year-and that's to begin preparing yourself for an education beyond high school.
因此，今天，我想直接与学子及其家长们讨论一件尤为重要的事情，而这件事是大家可以在今年之内实现的。那就是为自己的大学做好准备。
We know that in today's economy, whether you go to a four-year college, a community college, or a professional training program, some higher education is the surest ticket to the middle class.
我们都知道，在当今的经济环境中，你是否上过完整的大学、社区学院或参加过职业培训直接关系到你能否跻身中产阶级。
The typical American with a bachelor's degree or higher earns over 28,000 more per year than someone with just a high school diploma.
拥有本科学历的普通美国人每年的收入要比那些只有高中学历的人的收入高2.8万美元。
And they're also much more likely to have a job in the first place-the unemployment rate for those with a bachelor's degree is less than one-third of the rate for those without a high school diploma.
而且前者在职业上升通道上也具有领先优势。拥有本科学历人员的失业率比只有高中学历的人要低三分之一。
But for too many families across the country, paying for higher education is a constant struggle.
但对于全国众多的家庭而言，支付大学的学费却是永远的伤痛。
Earlier this year, a young woman named Elizabeth Cooper wrote to tell me how hard it is for middle-class families like hers to afford college.
今年早些时候，一位名叫伊丽莎白库珀的女孩给我写信，告诉我像她这样的中产家庭在支付大学学费这件事情上有多么艰难。
As she said, she feels not significant enough to be addressed, not poor enough for people to worry, and not rich enough to be cared about.
如同她信中所说的，她们家很普通无法引起重视，不是穷的不行能得到别人的关心，也不是富得流油能受到眷顾。
Michelle and I know the feeling we only finished paying off our student loans ten years ago.
米歇尔和我对此是有亲身体会的，我们也是十年前才刚刚还完我们的大学贷款。
And so as President, I'm working to make sure young people like Elizabeth can go to college without racking up mountains of debt.
作为总统，我要确保像伊丽莎白这样的同学能够上得起大学，而且不能背负沉重的债务负担。
We reformed a student loan system so that more money goes to students instead of big banks.
我们对助学贷款体系进行了改革，让钱能