index

While speaking at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee on Friday, President Obama proposed making community college free.

“The concept is simple:  America’s College Promise will make two years of community college free to responsible students who are willing to work for it.”

The president announced his ambitious $60 billion plan in Tennessee, announcing that a quality education as a “right” for those who work for it, the president called on Congress to support his plan and bring down community college education ‘down to zero.”

The plan is modeled and compared to a program in Tennessee, which makes community college education free, in the president’s proposal would cover the cost of the first two years of allowing students to acquire an associate’s degree.

Tennessee Republican Rep. Diane Black said her state’s plan, called Tennessee Promise, is paid mostly with lottery funds, while the federal funding source for Obama’s plan is unclear and states will have to help pick up the tab. “Ultimately, any efforts to reboot Tennessee Promise as a one-size-fits-all nationwide approach will be met with heavy skepticism from Congress,” Black said.

Missing in the president’s remarks was the details on how Obama plans to pay for this ambitious program.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the plan is expected to cost the federal government $60 billion over 10 years. The White House said the federal government would pick up 75 percent of the cost and the final quarter would come from states that opt into the program — though it’s unclear where the money might come from.

White House officials have stated that more details would be forthcoming on the president plan on how the proposal will be paid for will be outlined in the president’s budget he will submit to Congress next month.

The proposal has drawn criticism from House Speaker John Boehner R-Ohio, whose spokesman said, “with no details or information on the cost, this seems more like a talking point than a plan.”

The New York Times reported the proposal would cover half-time and full-time students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average — about a C-plus — and who “make steady progress toward completing a program,” White House officials said. It would apply to colleges that offered credit toward a four-year degree or occupational-training programs that award degrees in high-demand fields. The federal government would cover three-quarters of the average cost of community college for those students, and states that choose to participate would cover the remainder. If all states participate, the administration estimates, the program could cover as many as nine million students, saving them each an average of $3,800 a year.

Part of the plan the president outlined is that the federal government would pick up 75% of the tab, with the states coming up with the rest of the funding for those who opt in to the program.

McClatchy News reported the program would provide aid to some students who don’t need it, instead of focusing on low-income students through, for example, expanding Pell Grants or reducing the paperwork for student aid. Administration officials estimate that 9 million students could participate if they attend at least half-time, maintain 2.5 GPAs and make progress toward completing degrees or certificate programs.

“Making tuition free for all students regardless of their income is a missed opportunity to focus resources on the students who need aid the most,” said the Institute for College Access & Success, which usually sides with the Obama administration.

The real question is how will this program be funded and will the states have the resources to cover their portion of this proposal when many states are having difficulties funding their current budgets. One only has to look at California and the president’s own state of Illinois as these states and others are facing a daunting task of balancing their budgets.

The final aspect of this program would a future Congress facing over $18 trillion national debt stop funding this program and force this program on the states to fully fund all aspects of this.

Not mentioned in the president’s remarks is this program still does nothing to reduce the high cost and spiraling rise of higher education spending.

Why does higher education cost so much?