U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan emphasized the importance of eliminating barriers preventing Americans from receiving a college education in a press conference call Monday.

“For millions of students, paying for college is the biggest barrier to completion,” Duncan said, “so one of our most important tasks is to make college more affordable.”

President Barack Obama has worked to increase Pell Grants given to low-income students, Duncan said, enabling millions more to attend college.

“An additional 2.4 million low-income students are receiving these grants to help them pay for college,” Duncan said, adding that the average grant has increased by $1,000.

The federal government will continue investing in Pell Grants in the next decade, Duncan said.

“The Higher Education Bill that the Congress passed in March included more than $40 billion to increase Pell Grants and to ensure that all eligible students can receive the award,” he said.

The maximum Pell Grant increased to $5,550 in the current academic year and will go up to $6,000 by 2017, Duncan said.

Through savings generated by giving grants directly, he said the government was able to make this investment without increasing taxes.

Though Duncan is satisfied with the progress Congress has made, he said, “states and colleges and students themselves need to find ways to make college more affordable.”

Last year, Viacom Inc., MTV’s parent company, got involved in the effort through a five-year campaign called “Get Schooled,” which it started with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said Jason Rzepka, vice president of MTV public affairs, who was also on the conference call.

“Get Schooled is built to engage and empower Americans of all ages,” Rzepka said, “to help improve high school graduation rates, improve college readiness and also to raise college completion rates.”

“Get Schooled” is a competition to see who can submit the most innovative idea to help students find more money to pay for college. MTV is offering a $10,000 prize for the best idea.

Duncan said another barrier keeping students from going to college is the complexity of the loan application process.

“The FAFSA form … is far too long, far too confusing,” he said. “At the start of this year, we made the FAFSA form significantly shorter, simpler and more user-friendly.”

But Duncan said getting students into college is just half the battle.

“We need an all-hands-on-deck approach to prepare students for college, helping them not just go, but to complete their degrees,” Duncan said. “The need for college education is absolutely more important than ever.”

Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, who was also on the conference call, echoed Duncan’s sentiments.

“It’s sad to say that 56 percent of students who enter college graduate in six years,” he said.

Duncan said that if Americans don’t go to college, they will have very few job opportunities.

“There are very few good jobs out there, very few if you just have a high school diploma,” he said. “The new job economy will require a college education.”