By Robin Lempel
Students paid community colleges $16.7 billion in tuition and fees in 2012, and the average community college charged students about $3,347 in tuition and fees this year. Thanks to President Barack Obama’s proposal to provide tuition-free community college, that could soon be changing.
“What I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who’s willing to work for it,” Obama said. “It’s something we can accomplish, and it’s something that will train our workforce so that we can compete with anybody in the world.”
After getting a free tuition the first two years, students can then go on to get a bachelor’s degree or can go on and enter the workforce without a huge debt and compete in an increasingly competitive workforce. Basically, Obama says, he wants the first two years of college to “become as free and universal as high school is today.”
The president’s plan, which would have the federal government pay for about 75% while participating states would cover the rest of the plan, would help students get the education they deserve, help with student loans, and help put for-profit schools out of business. Just after the president’s announcement, in fact, for-profit schools, which have already been sued for predatory lending schemes, saw their stocks take a huge blow.
Of course, the president’s plan isn’t without its detractors. Many people are complaining that his proposal does nothing for the 40 million students who currently have more than $1.3 trillion of debt to pay back. Others, meanwhile, feel that this is a huge overreach, which isn’t surprising with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress.
Though Obama’s proposal isn’t likely to pass and there are some detractors, this is a really exciting proposal. He’s setting up some amazing groundwork for the educational future, and there’s no denying that this would make quality education more accessible to everyone.
Meanwhile, Get Schooled wants to know your thoughts on the announcement! Share your thoughts on their survey.
Photo: (Getty)
