U.S. Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter will participate in a roundtable discussion focusing on higher education, hosted by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn. at 9 a.m. CT on Friday, June 22. Kanter will join Governor Mark Dayton and other state and local leaders in a roundtable discussion about the state of higher education in the region.

Kanter will highlight the Obama Administration's recent work to keep college affordable for millions of American students by encouraging shared responsibility between state governments, institutions and students. She will discuss Pell grants and other available student aid funds as well as affordable student loan repayment options. Kanter will also outline the Administration’s efforts to make college costs more transparent for students and families, including the Department’s release last week of several lists on the College Affordability and Transparency Center that highlight institutions with the highest and lowest tuition and net price and those schools where prices are rising the fastest.

In addition, Kanter will discuss the need to ensure that students are receiving a world-class education so they can compete for jobs of the future. According to recent research, 70 percent of all Minnesota’s jobs will require more than a high school education by 2018. Minnesota is projected to have some 902,000 vacancies due to retirement and job creation, 620,000 of which will require postsecondary education.