Republicans may not be a fan of President Obama but he’s certainly attempting to leave a legacy that he was for the people.
On Thursday, President Obama revealed that he would propose a government program to make community college tuition-free for millions of students, an ambitious plan that would expand educational opportunities across the United States.
The initiative, which the president plans to officially announce Friday (Jan 9) at a Tennessee community college, aims to transform publicly financed higher education in an effort to address growing income inequality.
The plan would be funded by the federal government and participating states, but White House officials declined to discuss how much it would cost or how it would be financed. It is bound to be expensive and likely a tough sell to a Republican Congress not eager to spend money, especially on a proposal from the White House.
“It’s not just for kids,” Obama said. “We also have to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to constantly train themselves for better jobs, better wages, better benefits.”
Obama provided few specifics, and White House and Education Department officials on a conference call with reporters Thursday evening said the funding details would come out later with the president’s budget.
The White House did say that if all states participated, that nine million students could benefit saving on average $3,800 in tuition per year for a full-time student. That means the program could cost in the billions of dollars.
Under the proposal, participating students would be expected to maintain a modest grade point average and participating schools would have to meet certain academic requirements. States would opt in to the program and put up a fraction of the funding.
“Put simply, what I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who is willing to work for it,” the President said.
My two-cents: Im an advocate of education…..so I love, love, love this idea. I’ll do what I can to support this.
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