President Barack Obama asked Congress Wednesday to extend a tax credit for college students and their families to help more people receive college degrees in the country.

The American Opportunity Tax Credit was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, according to a report from the United States Treasury Department.

The tax credit allows for families to receive up to $2,500 for each student, and $1,000 per year is refundable in tax credits, the report said. 

Obama asked Congress to extend the credit today at a press conference at the White House. 

“I am calling on Congress to make this tax credit permanent so it’s worth up to $10,000 for four years of college,” Obama said. “Because we’ve got to make sure that in good times or bad, our families can invest in their children’s future and in the future of our country.”

The American Opportunity Tax Credit was formed to improve upon and take the place of current tax benefits in order to aid more college students with tuition and so that aid would be more significant.

University of Wisconsin Director of Student Financial Aid Susan Fischer said she was with extending the tax credit as long as it does not take away other financial aid money.

“With tax credit, we don’t know who gets it. It’s nice for families to get tax relief, but it’s not the same as saying, ‘Here’s a $2,000 grant upfront to help you pay your tuition,'” Fischer said.

Noel Radomski, director of the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education, said in the current economic climate tax credits are not the best way to help students.

Radomski said tax benefit programs aid only upper-middle and upper income families, and with the recession more families’ incomes are dropping.

He added more students are now eligible for federal financial aid, and less for tax credits.

“I think it’s misguided,” Radomski said. “When the economy comes back then this is the strategy that would work. It’s a strategy set for another environment, not for today’s environment.”