President's Proposal for Free Community College at SOTU

[autigeremt 6,569]

President Obama is proposing a plan to fund free Community College for students with a GPA of 2.5 and above. 75% of the funding would come from the Federal Govt. and the rest would come from each state. I'll post the link in just a second.

@thehill: More details about President Obama's #FreeCommunityCollege proposal: http://t.co/vBNqNe18Wn via @JTSTheHill

President Obama will unveil a new proposal to make the first two years of community college free for students during an event Friday in Tennessee previewing his State of the Union address.

But White House officials aren’t saying how much the program — which one aide described as “significant” in scope — will cost. Nor has the administration shared details of the initiative with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who would be necessary to approve the estimated billions of dollars necessary to provide free tuition.

Still, aides cast the proposal as a bold effort to refocus attention on the nation’s higher education system, and said even if the program wasn’t fully realized, it could spur additional, badly-needed investment in the community college system.

White House Domestic Policy Council director Cecilia Munoz noted that after the president’s unrealized call in a previous State of the Union address for Congress to provide universal pre-K to low and moderate income families, some 30 states moved to expand access.

“This is a proposal with bipartisan appeal,” Munoz said. “Making sure students have access to higher education and the skills that they need is not a partisan proposal.”

According to the White House, an estimated nine million students could benefit from the program if all states decide to participate. The program is designed to replicate similar efforts underway in Tennessee and Chicago. Full-time students would save an average of $3,800 per year.

“Put simply, what I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everyone who’s willing to work for it,” Obama said in a video posted to Facebook.

But officials also stressed that the president’s plan would “require everyone to do their part.”

Students would need to attend school at least half-time to qualify, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and “make steady progress toward completing their program.”

Community colleges also will need to strengthen their academic requirements and increase the number of students who graduate to participate. And only programs that either lead to a four-year college degree or provide occupational training skills would qualify.

Under the proposal, federal funding would cover three-quarters of the average cost and states would be expected to contribute the remaining funds.

Aides said the full funding details, as well as pay-fors, would be included in the president’s budget, which is set for release early next month.

“It’s a significant proposal,” Munoz said. “States will have to take the initiative to pick it up so it’s not something we expect to happen overnight.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest hinted earlier Thursday that the president could hope to achieve some aspects of the proposal unilaterally – while conceding Congress would be necessary for the bulk of the proposal.

“I think there will be an allusion to some executive actions that are possible, but what the President has in mind tomorrow will be some steps that we can take with Congress,” Earnest said.

Cory Fritz, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), dismissed the proposal Thursday, saying, “with no details or information on the cost, this seems more like a talking point than a plan.”

Separately, Obama is also expected to propose a new training fund that would provide additional grant dollars for technical training programs. The fund would underwrite the start-up of 100 centers for teaching workers the skills they need to secure jobs in high-growth fields like energy, IT, and advanced manufacturing.

And Obama will announce the establishment of a new manufacturing hub at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville designed to create new materials lighter and stronger than steel. The new materials could be used to lighten cars and trucks — increasing their fuel efficiency — or to create bigger wind turbines.

The Obama Administration has help fund a half-dozen of the hubs, public-private partnerships that seek to bring together private companies, universities, and federally-backed researchers in a bid to spur job creation. The president has asked for funding to create 45 such institutes — based on similar public-private partnerships in Germany — in previous State of the Union addresses.

This post was updated at 8:45 p.m.

[homersapien 11,354]

Sounds good conceptually. Course, devil is always in the details.

[AURaptor 1,121]

With so many out of work kids, there's nothing else left for them to do except go to school.

All by design, too.

[cptau 169]

Now grades will get inflated in HS to make all students eligible.

Similar to what happened in Georgia with the hope scholarships.

[AUTUmike 79]

A couple quick thoughts I have on this:

-Our education system factually exacerbates social and income inequality in America--this would help reduce those inequalities

-If enacted, this may have the effect of forcing public and private universities to increase tuition since many students would presumably attend CC for free before transferring to a four-year school

-The quality of community colleges needs to be improved drastically for this measure to have a significant impact on the nation's long-run productivity

-We may see slight reductions in low-level faculty numbers for disciplines like English, History, Mathematics, etc. that are reliant on adjunct professors (there would be net increases in adjunct positions between universities and community colleges, though)

[TheBlueVue 177]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

[autigeremt 6,569]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

Chump change....but I fear some of the unintended consequences that AUTU noted.

[channonc 466]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

Well, it costs a lot less than all the wars we have been involved in.

[AUUSN 823]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

Yeah! Who needs an educated populace!

[autigeremt 6,569]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

Well, it costs a lot less than all the wars we have been involved in.

Water under the bridge. It's cyclical (60's, 70's, 2000's, 2010's).

[autigeremt 6,569]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

Yeah! Who needs an educated populace!

Looking at the current state of affairs in the United States I'd say we are proof that we need an educated populace. As long as it's intended to instruct and not reconstruct.

[TheBlueVue 177]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

Well, it costs a lot less than all the wars we have been involved in.

Water under the bridge. It's cyclical (60's, 70's, 2000's, 2010's).

There's simply no comparison. I personally do not subscribe to the idea that we engaged in war simply for the sake of warmongering.

[TheBlueVue 177]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

Yeah! Who needs an educated populace!

Looking at the current state of affairs in the United States I'd say we are proof that we need an educated populace. As long as it's intended to instruct and not reconstruct.

When the govt is no longer able to sustain its debt, I suspect there will be quite a bit of dialogue about what the real role of govt is. There isn't enough money in the entire world to attend to every need of all citizens.

[aujeff11 6,243]

He can help pay my student loans while he is at it .

[Weegle777 78]

Good idea IMHO.

[homersapien 11,354]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

If my math is correct, that's $0.038 Trillion. Where were you when we decided to invade Iraq?

[autigeremt 6,569]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

If my math is correct, that's $0.038 Trillion. Where were you when we decided to invade Iraq?

Where were you? 29 Democratic Senators and 82 Democratic House Members voted for the war. One of them was Hillary Clinton. Why? Her husband had some of the so called "goods" on the WMD program. Get over it.

[icanthearyou 4,462]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

If my math is correct, that's $0.038 Trillion. Where were you when we decided to invade Iraq?

Where were you? 29 Democratic Senators and 82 Democratic House Members voted for the war. One of them was Hillary Clinton. Why? Her husband had some of the so called "goods" on the WMD program. Get over it.

There are Republican members of congress who felt lied to as well. Find the suitcase nukes, the uranium enrichment program, the ties to Al Qaeda and then, maybe people will get over it. It was a monumental mistake. Not funding it should never be forgotten.

[icanthearyou 4,462]

You can not look at the costs of a program like this without considering the potential, associated savings and revenue.

[homersapien 11,354]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

If my math is correct, that's $0.038 Trillion. Where were you when we decided to invade Iraq?

Where were you? 29 Democratic Senators and 82 Democratic House Members voted for the war. One of them was Hillary Clinton. Why? Her husband had some of the so called "goods" on the WMD program. Get over it.

What does that have to do with my post?

Blue's the one implying we simply cannot afford such an program to improve the education of those who need it. I say if we can afford to spend a Trillion on an unnecessary - if not criminal war - we can afford a mere 39 billion for something as worthwhile as this.

And there was no WMD program in Iraq. So perhaps you are the one who needs to "get over it" and just accept the facts.

As far as Democrats voting for it, they are guilty of believing the lies justifying it. But they certainly weren't the cause of the war.

What is it about Republicans not accepting responsibility?

[autigeremt 6,569]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

If my math is correct, that's $0.038 Trillion. Where were you when we decided to invade Iraq?

Where were you? 29 Democratic Senators and 82 Democratic House Members voted for the war. One of them was Hillary Clinton. Why? Her husband had some of the so called "goods" on the WMD program. Get over it.

What does that have to do with my post?

About as much as the Iraq War has to this one.

[alexava 6,973]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\/>

Well, it costs a lot less than all the wars we have been involved in.

Water under the bridge. It's cyclical (60's, 70's, 2000's, 2010's). ;)/>

There's simply no comparison. I personally do not subscribe to the idea that we engaged in war simply for the sake of warmongering.

why did we

[homersapien 11,354]

We can definitely afford it, its just $38 billion. We're made out of money, right? :-\

If my math is correct, that's $0.038 Trillion. Where were you when we decided to invade Iraq?

Where were you? 29 Democratic Senators and 82 Democratic House Members voted for the war. One of them was Hillary Clinton. Why? Her husband had some of the so called "goods" on the WMD program. Get over it.

What does that have to do with my post?

About as much as the Iraq War has to this one.

Not exactly. Actually it was the cost of the Iraqi war that's the point. We can (apparently) afford a trillion for an unnecessary war, but we need to walk away from a 38 billion investment because "we aren't made of money".

That seems like a disconnect in logic to me.

[Grumps 3,693]

Does anyone other than me miss the old days on this forum when Auburn men and women actually discussed political issues?

[AUFAN78 3,890]

Does anyone other than me miss the old days on this forum when Auburn men and women actually discussed political issues?