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Obama’s community college plan: Is it education or politics?

The White House has unveiled plans  to make the taxpayers pay for community college tuition:

“…[T]he President is unveiling the America’s College Promise proposal to make two years of community college free for responsible students, letting students earn the first half of a bachelor’s degree and earn skills needed in the workforce at no cost. This proposal will require everyone to do their part: community colleges must strengthen their programs and increase the number of students who graduate, states must invest more in higher education and training, and students must take responsibility for their education, earn good grades, and stay on track to graduate. The program would be undertaken in partnership with states and is inspired by new programs in Tennessee and Chicago. If all states participate, an estimated 9 million students could benefit. A full-time community college student could save an average of $3,800 in tuition per year. In addition, today the President will propose a new American Technical Training Fund to expand innovative, high-quality technical training programs similar to Tennessee Tech Centers that meet employer needs and help prepare more Americans for better paying jobs. These proposals build on a number of historic investments the President has made in college affordability and quality since taking office, including a $1,000 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to help working and middle class families, the creation of the $2,500 American Opportunity Tax Credit, reforming student loans to eliminate subsidies to banks to invest in making college more affordable and keeping student debt manageable, and making available over $2 billion in grants to connect community colleges with employers to develop programs that are designed to get hard-working students good jobs.”

A number of salient questions must be raised regarding the concept, not the least of which is affordability.  With the nation’s debt doubling during the current Administration and now standing at over $18 trillion, with vast new amounts being added each year for the foreseeable future, is this new federal expense affordable at all?  With U.S. taxes already excessive, can the taxpayers be burdened further?

Critics have raised other issues. The Las Vegas Review-Journal notes: “It’s a curious proposition because affordability is not a barrier to enrollment in community colleges, unlike four-year universities. The president’s plan says community college costs about $3,800 a year, although the College Board reports average annual tuition at community colleges is $3,300. Either of those figures might seem high for low-income families, but the figure represents a full course schedule. About two-thirds of community college students attend part-time, because they also work. Plus, students can qualify for financial aid to offset what is already a good value.”

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The student-oriented publication Turningpoint usa.net notes:

“College students will still pay the same amount on education, just not in the same way, and even if they do manage to pay a little less it will ultimately hurt them more after they get out of college because it will become increasingly more difficult to find a job as the job creators are forced to pay for their education through taxes thus making that four year bachelor’s degree worth even less. The President may act concerned about high costs but he is apathetic to the $60 Billion his proposal would place on taxpayers. When you also take into account the influx of new students stampeding through the doors to get a “free” education, universities will have to hire more professors, materials, and space to accommodate. In order for the university to pay for that, the only logical step would be to increase the cost of tuition making the final price tag for those pursuing a bachelor’s degree even costlier than before it was ‘free”.

There is ample reason to question whether the President’s proposal is actually centered on providing additional educational incentives, or is more concerned with buying support for his political party, which was substantially defeated in the last election and faces significant defections from its youth base due to the depressed job market.