It is great to be at one of the finest technical institutes in the world.
[APPLAUSE]
One of the finest in the world. I mean, you've got to be if the Ramblin' Wreck is still running
after all these years. [APPLAUSE] That's a Georgia Tech reference that some of you may
not know. [LAUGHTER] I also know that Georgia Tech is terrific because we've actually worked
with you on several fronts -– from promoting advanced manufacturing to unlocking the mysteries
of the brain to helping more students become entrepreneurs. After the worst economic crisis
of our lifetimes, over the past five years, our businesses have now created 12 million
new jobs. Unemployment continues to come down, and obviously that's good news for those of
you who are graduating soon. [APPLAUSE] Yes, that's right, you want a job. [LAUGHTER] Your
parents also want you to have a job. They don't want you on the couch. And today, a
college degree is the surest ticket to the middle class and beyond. It's the key to getting
a good job that pays a good income. And it offers a measure of security, because a college
degree tells employers that you don't just have one set of skills; that you've got the
continuous capacity to learn new skills, which is going to be particularly important for
your generation because the economy is going to churn and change in ways that none of us
can even anticipate. The skill-sets you are getting now are going to keep you in that
job market. You're going to have multiple jobs before you're 30. Some of you will have
multiple careers. And we live in a 21st-century economy, where your most valuable asset is
your imagination, your knowledge, your ability to analyze tough problems. And let me say
that it's been established time and time again that Georgia Tech is one of the best bargains
around. You are getting a great education for a great value. [APPLAUSE] Which is one
of the reasons I'm here; obviously, I wouldn't go to a place that was a bad bargain and really
expensive and no value. That would not make sense. [LAUGHTER] I believe that America is
not a place where higher education is a privilege that is reserved for the few. America needs
to be a place where higher education has to be available for every single person who's
willing to strive for it, who's willing to work for it. [APPLAUSE] Meanwhile, we're working
to hold down the cost of a college education. So we're partnering with schools like Georgia
Tech on innovative ways to increase value -– like your online master's program in
computer science -- [APPLAUSE] -- which costs just a fraction of the price of an in-classroom
program. So we're trying to tackle this problem from every angle. There's no silver bullet.
But we're trying to make sure that across the board, more and more young people can
afford to go to college, and then afterwards, aren't so burdened with debt that you can't
do anything else. We want to make this experience more affordable because you're not just investing
in yourselves, you're investing in your nation. [APPLAUSE] I want us to all organize together
-- not on a partisan basis, it's not organizing around an election, it's organizing around
a simple idea that everybody should be able to get behind. And you're going to have to
play the part. Because what we also made the point of this past weekend is young people
typically lead the pack with new ideas, with new initiatives, with new focus, with a new
vision. [APPLAUSE] And in the meantime, you've got to study hard, and work hard, and have
fun. Make some new discoveries. Inspire us. Lead us. Be the Americans that we need you
to be. Every American should have the right to go as far as their talents and hard work
will take them. That is what college is all about. That is what America is all about.
And you embody that basic notion. You are that talent. You are an embodiment of what
we hope for: A country that says that everybody, rich, poor, black, white, Hispanic, Asian,
gay, straight, man, woman, with disabilities, without -- no matter who you are or where
you come from, not only can you succeed but you can help everybody else succeed. That's
the promise that helped us become the greatest nation in the world. That's the promise that
I need you working for. Thank you, everybody. God bless you. Thank you, Georgia.