{"id":119,"date":"2015-01-08T23:29:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T05:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/01\/free-community-college.html"},"modified":"2015-02-24T23:21:39","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T05:21:39","slug":"free-community-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/01\/free-community-college.html","title":{"rendered":"“Free Community College”???"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This, of course, is the headline for those of us looking for a diversion from the events in France: \u00a0\u201cObama to propose two free years of community college for students<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The details: \u00a0Obama proposes that the federal government cover 75% of the tuition costs, based on national averages, for the \u201cfirst two years\u201d of a student\u2019s attendance at a community college, so long as the state agrees to pay the remainder of the cost (which presumably will vary based on whether the particular college is below, at, or above the average). \u00a0Other proposed requirements: \u00a0the student must attend at least half-time and must maintain a 2.5 GPA, and the college itself must<\/p>\n

offer programs that are either 1) academic programs that fully transfer credits to local public four-year colleges and universities, or 2) occupational training programs with high graduation rates and lead to in-demand degrees and certificates. Community colleges must also adopt promising and evidence-based institutional reforms to improve student outcomes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

according to the White House website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, what could go wrong?<\/p>\n

In the first place, the feds would hold the purse strings and the demand for \u201cinstitutional reforms\u201d would give them substantial regulatory power. \u00a0What happens when they decide that a particular community college doesn\u2019t qualify? \u00a0Of course, they\u2019ll jump. \u00a0And, around here, the community colleges each serve a specified district, and are supposed to be responsive to that district\u2019s needs. \u00a0But if the state is covering the remainder of the costs, would they really tolerate price differentials from one college to the next? <\/p>\n

As to pricing, there\u2019d be two tensions \u2014 the feds covering 75% of national-average tuition would tend to bump rates up. \u00a0No one would want to be the sucker leaving federal money on the table. \u00a0But I suppose the states would tend to push rates down, if they\u2019re on the hook for the remainder. \u00a0But if it\u2019s the local college that sets the tuition, and it\u2019s all free money, there may not be any limit to the tuition hikes.<\/p>\n

And do any of the restrictions make much sense? \u00a0An older student, taking one class at a time while working full-time, pays full price (which may end up being much inflated) while a fresh high school graduate attends free? \u00a0And how would the \u201cfirst two years\u201d be measured for a student returning to college for additional education? \u00a0And would all occupational training programs be covered, or only those that are \u201cin-demand,\u201d and who determines this?<\/p>\n

As a side note, Obama says that the proposal is for \u201ceverybody who\u2019s willing to work for it\u201d which some commenters are assuming means some kind of community service requirement \u2014 but I think that\u2019s just a reference to the requirement to maintain a 2.5 GPA (not hard to do, given that colleges generally let you drop classes in which you suspect you\u2019re headed towards a grade lower than this).<\/p>\n

But what mystifies me more than anything else is the political reasoning, or lack thereof, behind this.<\/p>\n

Does Obama seriously think that Boehner and what\u2019s his name in the Senate are going to embrace this proposal? \u00a0Is this even a proposal, or is this just a set of talking points? \u00a0And, again, he\u2019s travelling, in this case to Tennessee (see here for a local report<\/a> on the roads closing and schools dismissing early as a result), to give a speech announcing this initiative. <\/p>\n

Unless he\u2019s completely lost his mind, he\u2019s got to recognize that this has to be implemented by legislation, that there isn\u2019t any appetite for it, and there are currently multiple programs to provide funding at least sufficient for community college tuition, including Pell Grants<\/a> (up to $5,730 based on financial need) and the Hope or American opportunity tax credits<\/a> ($2,500, 40% refundable, the first $2,000 on first-dollar college costs).<\/p>\n

Is he planning on submitting legislation to Congress? \u00a0Or is this going to be nothing more than just another speech, soon forgotten about? \u00a0And in what world is he going to get Congress to work with him by means of speech-making? \u00a0(And heck, I\u2019d say there\u2019s at least an even chance that he uses the speech itself to criticize Congress.)<\/p>\n

Now, look, I think that, in general, the a large portion of the sort of basic education that community colleges tend to provide \u2014 the mix of vocational classes and introductory courses to college topics, and a substantial dose of remedial education \u2014 ought to be handled at the secondary school level, open to all comers, rather than limiting offerings to traditional students, night school for older teenagers, and GED preparation for everyone else. I wrote about this about a year ago.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0But I hardly think that having the feds come in and hold the purse strings and ultimately control community colleges is the way to go.<\/p>\n

In any event, if what we\u2019ve got to look forward to is another two years of Obama making generous promises in one speech after the next, in one \u201cmiddle America\u201d locale after another, while vetoing anything Congress does, we\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n

Postscript: I\u2019m looking at the twitter hashtag #FreeCommunityCollege now and it sure looks as if the expectation is not just free community college, but a program for free college in general, be it two or four year, or at least a proposal for \u201cfree\u201d college anywhere, not just at the local \u201cOnly Chance College\u201d (as we called it, back then).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This, of course, is the headline for those of us looking for a diversion from the events in France: \u00a0\u201cObama to propose two free years of community college for students.\u201d The details: \u00a0Obama proposes that the federal government cover 75% of the tuition costs, based on national averages, for the \u201cfirst two years\u201d of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67,66,5],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-college-funding","tag-community-college","tag-obama"],"yoast_head":"\n"Free Community College"???<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This, of course, is the headline for those of us looking for a diversion from the events in France:  "Obama to propose two free years of community\" \/>\n<meta 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