By Editorial Staff
Free tuition for all community college students sounds great to most college students and future college attendees, as they struggle to find the resources to advance their education. Some would disagree, saying that free tuition devalues the education. We strongly believe that free community college education will both allow access to higher education to a broader group of students and produce an outcome that will elevate our workforce.
Many young people contemplating their future goals are not 100 percent sure of their career choice. For these students, community college is a great way to start their college education in an environment, usually close to home, that provides a wide array of educational opportunities.
Community colleges are playing an important role in retraining and offering new educational choices for seasoned workers caught up in a fast-changing economy. President Barack Obama is proposing a great idea. The federal government would pay for three-quarters of the first two years of community college, and participating states would cover the cover the balance.
In a recent speech, Obama said, “We also have to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to constantly train themselves for better jobs, better wages, better benefits.”
Recipients would have to earn this benefit by having at least a 2.5 GPA. A total of almost 9 million students could benefit from this type of plan.
Oregon and Tennessee already have similar programs in place. In Tennessee, in just one year, more than 57,000 students have applied for that state’s free community college and technical school program. In Oregon, almost 70,000 students will benefit. This is not a new idea. President Harry Truman proposed free community college in the 1940s.
The College Promise Advisory Board, chaired by Dr. Jill Biden, has estimated that by 2020, 35 percent of job openings will require at least a bachelor’s degree, while an additional 30 percent will require at least some college or an associate’s degree. These statistics, alone demonstrate the importance of improving access to college education. America’s more than 1,100 Community Colleges are affordable, and they are conveniently located where students and workers live. They can be accessed on a part-time basis, while students work. They offer remedial level classes for students working to transition to a four-year college. Many community colleges can work in partnership with the business, and health care industry, locally, to offer training in technology, healthcare and nursing, which benefits the community.
Rather than free, a better word would be “investment.” Invest in our young people, and workers in transition, to create a better economy and a better country.
Editorial written by Tess Peterson, based on the consensus of the editorial staff of Peterson, Editor Madison Mings, Online Editor Teresa Brummett and Print Editor Isaac Warren. You can contact the editors at [email protected]. Disagree or share our opinion, feel free to write a letter to the editor to share your opinion.