Wednesday , March 25, 2015
Volume 28, Issue 1
Westminster Campus Student Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, January 29, 2015 Photo by Robin OConnell
The President’s Community College Plan: How Does It Affect You? Written by Andrew Goad
During President Obama’s State of the Union speech, and in the weeks following, there has been quite a bit of talk concerning the President’s proposal to make Community and Junior colleges free. So what’s it all about? As of right now, there are only two provisions that would go into such a proposal. First, a student would have to go at least half-time. Second, the student would need to maintain what amounts to roughly a high C grade point average. Simple right? Not so fast. First and foremost,
this is just an idea. This proposal has almost no feet. There is a slim to no chance of it making its way through the Republican controlled House and Senate. If for some reason it did receive the stamp of approval from Congress, there is very little chance anybody on campus right now would be able to take advantage of it. There are hurdles, and a handful of questions need to first be answered. A big concern is will the States push back? As it stands now, the funding for the current proposal would come primarily from the federal government, in the amount
of 75%. But that leaves 25% left for the states to cover. State budgets are both at their limit as far as revenue, as well as the constitutionality of having to balance their budgets every year, unlike the federal government. So it may end up being a tough sale to state governments. Another concern is how will higher education, as a system, feel about this? The majority of students at the local community college are there because it is a less expensive way for students to earn credit and get their feet wet at an institution of higher learning. If the government were to move forward with this proposal it
would put an even higher strain on four-year schools that could lose students traditionally enrolled at those schools, in turn raising tuition, and almost negating any perceived benefit from less expensive community colleges. The largest concern however, may come directly from the general population. As we know, nothing is ever truly free. Whatever is given to one person first needs to be taken from another. The majority of college educated people put themselves through college either by working and paying tuition Continued on Page 2