President Barack Obama announced on Thursday, Jan. 8, that he is going to propose making community college free for everyone, not just recent high school graduates, but for adults who have decided to go back to school to improve their skills and increase their chances of getting a better job.
In a video taken from Air Force One, Obama said he is going to make the formal announcement on Friday at the Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tenn. He will be accompanied by the state's Republic governor, Bill Haslam, who launched a similar program called Tennessee Promise, which provides two years of free education for high school graduates going to a community college in the state.
"I think everybody understands (education) is the key to success for our kids in the 21st century," said (video) the President. "But what we also understand is that it's not just for kids, we also have to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to constantly train themselves for better jobs, better wages, better benefits."
If all states participate, the proposal could benefit up to 9 million students every year by saving them an average of $3,800 in tuition.
Under America's College Promise, the federal government will fund 75 percent of college tuition for all students who are accepted in a community college program that allows the transfer of credits to a four-year college or university course or a training course for skills that leads to jobs for graduates. The remaining 25 percent of the tuition costs will be funded by the state, said a White House representative in a conference call with reporters.
"Put simply, what I would like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it," Obama says.
Students participating in the proposal will be expected to maintain a grade point average not below 2.5 and must enroll at least part-time.
"It's something that we can accomplish and it's something that can train our workforce so we can compete with anybody in the world," says the President.
White House representatives declined to drop figures on the budget needed to make community college free, only saying that it will be "significant." David Leonhardt of the New York Times estimates that it would cost the federal government some $15 billion every year to fund the effort, certainly a considerable amount but not a whopping majority of the $3.5 trillion federal budget for 2015.
"The President thinks this is a moment like when we decided to make high school universal," says Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.
The proposal is not without its critics, definitely not the least of whom are the Republicans dominating Congress.
"With no details or information on the cost, this seems more like a talking point than a plan," says Cory Fritz, spokesperson for Speaker John Boehner.
The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) calls the proposal a "wolf in sheep's clothing," pointing out that it only covers tuition expenses, which account for just one-fifth of all college expenses. TICAS says other expenses, including textbooks, transportation and living expenses, are more expensive and are more likely to prevent students from enrolling in college.
TICAS also says making education free for all students, regardless for their income, takes the focus away from helping those who need aid the most.
"Free tuition plans are giant missed opportunities because they put resources where they are less needed when the need is so great in other areas," says TICAS representative Debbie Cochrane. "Students in the lower income categories need far more financial support to bring college within reach. The vast majority of them have 'unmet need' even after accounting for available grants and what they can afford out-of-pocket."
