Students would qualify if they attend at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA and make progress toward completing a degree or certificate program. Participating schools would have to meet certain academic requirements.
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.
Community colleges are the main source of education and job training for most low-income Americans which helps the economy. The president’s plan would help an economy that increasingly relies on a more skilled workforce.
While the program has strong merits it is unlikely to be passed into law any time soon.
The idea has already received a chilly response from House Speaker John Boehner’s office. “With no details or information on the cost, this seems more like a talking point than a plan,” said spokesman Cory Fritz.
The cost of the proposal has yet to be revealed by administration officials, and it faces a Republican Congress averse to big new spending programs.
Obama announced his plan in Tennessee, because it’s modeled after the state’s free community college program championed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam. So maybe state lawmakers should consider look at duplicating the program.
Lawmakers and policy makers’ must weigh the cost to the country to have an increasingly number of Americans unprepared for jobs that exist now and in the future which require post-secondary education and training.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune.)
About Post Author
