President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget has “historic” increases for education, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said Thursday.

Most of the budget is frozen at the 2010 levels — the current fiscal year — but increases include early childhood education, K-12 reform and college access and affordability, he said.

“It’s a cradle-to-career objective,” Duncan said during a national conference call held with student reporters. “(Obama) sees it as the key to our economic future.”

Duncan said a goal of the Obama administration is to dramatically increase college readiness for high school students and college completion rates, both of which are important in order to get the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

College graduates make up about 40 percent of young people today, Duncan said. A generation ago that was enough to lead the world, but at least 10 countries have surpassed that rate, he said.

An additional 10 million students will need to graduate with either bachelor’s or associate’s degrees to meet the goal set by the administration.

The Obama administration has allotted $173 billion to education in its budget for the 2011 fiscal year. The money is intended to give more students access to a college education by increasing Pell Grants amounts 1 percent above inflation each year, improving the quality of community colleges through increased funding, better preparing students for college and strengthening the income-based repayment program.

The administration also plans to end federal subsidies for higher education loans to private banks and shifting those savings, projected to be around $87 million, into the education budget. Duncan said this plan should allow for the budget increase without raising taxes to fund them.

“Ultimately, our goal is simple. It’s for all of you to have a chance to be successful,” Duncan said.

The Obama administration also wants to change the way students deal with education financing after graduation.

The idea is to reduce the monthly payments of student loans to a more manageable level. This could open possibilities for graduates to take lower-paying jobs that provide a valuable service to society, without worrying that their salaries won’t be enough to cover high monthly payments.

An income-based repayment plan was passed into federal law July 1, but it caps loan repayment at 15 percent of the student’s income.

The new proposal will reduce that amount to 10 percent of discretionary income and forgive the remaining debt after 20 years, or 10 years if the student takes a job in public service.

The House of Representatives passed the bill containing the proposal, called the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, by a vote of 253-171 in September. In order for these programs to go into effect, the U.S. Senate also must pass the bill.