President Obama will speak at Lackawanna College when he visits Scranton on Friday, the White House confirmed.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the President will discuss higher education as part of his ongoing messaging push about the middle class.

“The President will lay out some ideas that he has about other things that we can do to make sure that we have — that we can ensure that there’s access to a quality college education beyond just making sure that students have the resources they need to be able to borrow money to afford it,” Earnest said during a Wednesday press briefing.

The Times-Tribune and Morning Call are reporting that the speech will take place at Lackawanna College, a private school specializing in two year vocational degrees.

“Obama is likely to make the case that not every student needs to attend a four-year university, and that schools like Lackawanna that prepare students for specific, good-paying jobs should be encouraged,” the Morning Call wrote.

Obama’s visit to the Electric City is part of a two day bus tour which includes visits to three colleges in upstate New York in addition to Lackawanna.

Hoping to hit upon a bright spot in recent legislative history, Earnest highlighted the talks as an area where the President believes some common ground amongst Democrats and Republicans can be found.

“I would assume that Republicans, at least in principle, would agree with the President that a policy priority of the federal government should be making sure that a college education is both affordable and accessible to middle-class families all across the country,” he said.

Obama signed a bill in August which will set caps on student loan interest rates that are tied to market rates. The agreement is aimed at bringing interest rates down after they doubled in July.