After a very successful health and exercise campaign, First Lady Michelle Obama will turn her attention to an issue her husband is actively pursuing: higher education, the New York Times reported.
President Barack Obama announced a plan in late August to change the way Americans look at college. The plan includes a rating system for federally funded institutions of higher education that would allot more government funds to highly rated schools, giving potential students a better chance to go to truly better colleges.
Michelle's new initiative aligns with her husband's policy and aims to get bright low-income students into college with a chance to finish their degree.
"I'm here today because I want you to know that my story can be your story," Obama will tell students at Bell Multicultural High School in Washington Tuesday, according to an advance text of her remarks obtained by the NYT. "The details might be a little different, but so many of the challenges and triumphs will be just the same."
The First Lady holds degrees from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, where she advocated for better access for minorities and low-income students.
Obama will reportedly tell her audience no matter what they want to be when they grow up, "you have got to do whatever it takes to continue your education after high school - whether that's going to a community college, or getting a technical certificate, or completing a training opportunity, or heading off to a four-year college."
According to her aides, Obama will bring her message to other schools nationwide and use social media to make it more accessible to the younger generation.
Obama is most well known for her knowledge of fashion and her health and exercise initiative, but many of the First Lady's supporters have been awaiting the time she puts her education and work experience to use. After finishing her education, she worked for the Chicago law firm Sidley-Austin, where she met her husband.
"She just could not have done this four years ago," said Catherine Allgor, a professor of history at the University of California, Riverside, who has studied and wrote books on first ladies in the past. "If she came out of the gate with something much more tied to policy, she would have been shot down. Just look at the reaction to her suggestions that people eat salad."
Some critics said Obama could not take on such a controversial topic like education reform early in Barack's presidency. But the President has not been working alone on his project. Education Department secretary Arne Duncan has backed Barack's plan all the way and is excited to see Michelle get involved.
"I think this will have tremendous dividends around the country," said Duncan. "She has a personal passion and authority on this because this is her story. This is her life. This is who she is."