Obama to propose two free years of community college for students

[jimmy olsen]

Should just make the whole thing free, it would actually be cheaper than all the loans and grants the Feds give out already

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/barack-obama-free-community-college-114094.html

Obama to propose two free years of community college for students

By Allie Grasgreen

1/8/15 6:48 PM EST

President Barack Obama on Friday will propose making two years of community college free for students.

In a White House video posted around 6 p.m., Obama said he wanted to offer "a little preview" of his plans for the Jan. 20 State of the Union address.

"What I'd like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it," Obama said. "It's something we can accomplish and it's something that will train our workforce so that we can compete with anybody in the world."

Obama did not offer other specifics on what he plans to propose during a visit to Pellissippi Community College in Tennessee on Friday, but said he plans to highlight several education efforts by state officials there. Beginning this year, any state high school graduate is eligible for two years of free community college tuition under the Tennessee Promise.

Obama's plan may require approval from Congress, however.

"I hope we've got the chance to make sure that Congress gets behind these kinds of efforts to make sure that even as we rebound and grow in 2015, that it benefits everybody and not just some," the president said in the video.

[11B4V]

"What I'd like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it,"

He wants a legacy soooooooo bad.

[Jacob]

"What I'd like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it,"

He wants a legacy soooooooo bad.

You don't think Obamacare is going to cut it?

[Eddie Teach]

He won a Nobel Prize, what more does one need for a "legacy"? 

[Admiral Yi]

He should also make everyone's first home and first car free.

[11B4V]

He won a Nobel Prize, what more does one need for a "legacy"? 

For peace wasn't it. 

[11B4V]

"What I'd like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who's willing to work for it,"

He wants a legacy soooooooo bad.

You don't think Obamacare is going to cut it?

With the 47%...yes maybe.

[Eddie Teach]

For peace wasn't it. 

Peace with Honor

[CountDeMoney]

Just more hating on higher education from the Languish Elite.  And 11Bravo.

[Jacob]

Just more hating on higher education from the Languish Elite.  And 11Bravo.

The Languish Elite... that's like a contradiction in terms, innit?

[11B4V]

Just more hating on higher education from the Languish Elite.  And 11Bravo.

[jimmy olsen]

He should also make everyone's first home and first car free.

Making public college tuition free would cut federal expenses on higher education.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/heres-exactly-how-much-the-government-would-have-to-spend-to-make-public-college-tuition-free/282803/

Here's Exactly How Much the Government Would Have to Spend to Make Public College Tuition-Free
And the grand total is...
Jordan Weissmann Jan 3 2014, 2:15 PM ET

A mere $62.6 billion dollars!

According to new Department of Education data, that's how much tuition public colleges collected from undergraduates in 2012 across the entire United States. And I'm not being facetious with the word mere, either. The New America Foundation says that the federal government spent a whole $69 billion in 2013 on its hodgepodge of financial aid programs, such as Pell Grants for low-income students, tax breaks, work study funding. And that doesn't even include loans.

If we were we scrapping our current system and starting from scratch, Washington could make public college tuition free with the money it sets aside its scattershot attempts to make college affordable today.

Of course, we're not going to start from scratch (and I'm not even sure we should want to make state schools totally free). But I like to make this point every so often because I think it underscores what a confused mess higher education finance is in this country. On the whole, Americans seem to want affordable colleges that are accessible to all. But rather than simply using our resources to maintain a cheap public system (and remember, public schools educate 75 percent of undergrads), we spill them into a fairly wasteful and expensive private sector. At one point, a Senate investigation found that the for-profit sector alone was chowing down on 25 percent of all federal aid dollars.

If that story sounds awfully similar the problems the U.S. faces with healthcare costs, well, that's because it is similar. Americans have an allergy to straightforward policy solutions involving the public sector. And for that, we pay a price.

Update—Friday Jan. 3, 3:45 PM: Just to clarify, because some readers have asked, making tuition free in 2012 would have required $62.6 billion on top of what state and local governments already spend subsidizing public colleges, as well as some of the federal spending that doesn't go towards financial aid. Again, you can find a detailed breakdown of how our colleges are funded in the Department of Education's data.

For anybody interested in reading more about the idea of making public college tuition free, and the vast array of economic considerations that would entail, here's a lengthy piece I wrote last year.

Update—Friday Jan. 3, 4:31 PM: One more update to answer another good question I've received. Technically, you could say the additional cost of making college tuition free would be even cheaper than $62.6 billion. How come? Because most Pell Grant money is already spent at public colleges. In 2011 - 2012, state school students received $21.8 billion in grants. So, if you subtract that from the total needed to completely eliminate tuition, it the sum would be closer to $40 billion. (Apologies for not teasing that point out earlier. I'd noted it in a previous article and didn't think to repeat it.) 

[Admiral Yi]

It would also leave private universities very, very expensive Timmy.

[jimmy olsen]

It would also leave private universities very, very expensive Timmy.

So what?

[citizen k]

He should also make everyone's first home and first car free.

Working on it.

President Obama Explains How FHA's 3%-Down Mortgages Are Great For America - Live Feed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymAegF_1aZY


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-17/fhfa-said-to-plan-steps-to-ease-lending-to-riskier-buyers.html