Millions of students nationwide could be eligible for two years of free community-college tuition under a proposal that President Obama will outline on Friday during an appearance at Pellissippi State Community College, in Tennessee.
The proposal, which would require approval by the Republican-controlled Congress and would carry an unspecified price tag, calls for the federal government to pick up the tab for about three-quarters of students’ tuition costs. Participating states would kick in the rest, and if all of them joined in, about nine million students could benefit each year, with full-time students saving an average of $3,800 in tuition per year.
The America’s College Promise plan, as the proposal has been dubbed, is modeled after the Tennessee Promise, a program that will use lottery money to cover community-college tuition for all of that state’s high-school seniors, starting this fall. Nine out of 10 of Tennessee’s graduating seniors have applied to the program—more than twice as many as initially expected. State officials predict that 12,000 to 16,000 of them will end up enrolling in two-year colleges.
Obama-administration officials gave a preview of the White House plan during a call with reporters Thursday evening, shortly after the president gave a sneak peak in a video shot aboard Air Force One and posted on Facebook.
"What I’d like to do is see the first two years of community college free for everybody who’s willing to work for it," Mr. Obama said. "It’s something we can accomplish and something that will train our work force so we can compete with anyone in the world."
Within minutes, reactions began pouring in, ranging from the view that the proposal amounts to a "potential game changer" for higher education to the warning that it could be a "wolf in sheep’s clothing" because it might not benefit those who need it most.
The plan is just as significant as the move, nearly a century ago, to make high school free and open to all, according to Cecilia Muñoz, the White House's domestic-policy director. Asked repeatedly for details on how much the program would cost the federal government, Ms. Muñoz said the information would be released later, with the president’s 2016 budget plan.
"It is a significant proposal, and states will have to take the lead," she said. "We don’t expect it to happen overnight."
Asked about the likelihood that Congress would approve such an expensive proposal, Ms. Muñoz said Tennessee, with its Republican governor, William E. Haslam, is proof that the program has bipartisan appeal. A similar program has been started in Chicago.
The program is needed at a time when the United States has lost the distinction of having the most educated work force in the world, she said. By 2020, about 35 percent of job openings will require at least a bachelor’s degree and 30 percent will require some college or an associate degree, she added.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Obama-Proposes-Free-Community/151097