Although it may seem that President Barack Obama hasn’t done a whole lot in the way of helping college students yet, we’re finally starting to see some of the benefits of his plans trickle down to universities.

As of this year, Kent State has received more than $5 million for research funding. The organizations that gave Kent State professors these grants were funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law by President Obama in February.

One of the 16 recipients of the grant money may be the next Professor Owen C. Lovejoy.

It’s not easy to get the money, either. These recipients had to work hard to prove to the funding companies why they deserved money to experiment in this field or that. Five million dollars is a significant amount, even spread among 16 people.

Intense research needs this money, it needs every penny of it to find cures for diseases and ailments or to discover why the earth is heating up or losing a species. This money may save us more money later – it may save us lives or answer some very important questions. These professors deserve the funding to possibly change our lives.

And as with Lovejoy, every chance students have to say they went to the school where this was cured and that was discovered is another chance for a better job. The more professors who choose not only to research but are also backed by a grant means the more students who could possibly work for them on the projects.

Congratulations to those professors who have already received funding for their projects. We hope there are more than 16 of you by the end of the school year, and we hope there are many of you who are working toward this goal.

For more information on those who received the grants, read the previous story in the Stater.

The above editorial was the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.