President Obama will propose Friday a tuition-free community college plan.
Though Obama will need congressional approval for his proposal to make two years of community college free for students, it could benefit 9 million students each year, the White House said Thursday.
“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 in a White House video posted Thursday night. “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.”
The proposal, called “America’s College Promise,” would also save students an average of $3,800 in tuition.
Obama will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden and second lady Jill Biden Friday at Pellissippi Community College in Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday to tout the proposal.
Students will be required to attend community college at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA and make “steady progress toward completing their program,” the White House said Thursday.
Community colleges will have requirements too, including offering specific programs and adopting institutional reforms to help the students.
Federal funding is expected to cover three-quarters of the average cost of community college — and states are being asked to pick up the rest of the tab.
“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,” Obama said in the video.
