With free community college programs expanding in the United States, their results could lead to an expansion or abandonment by other states in the next few years.
The initiative is bipartisan, as President Obama and Republican governors have encouraged and began the experiments, according to the AP.
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Tennessee has led the way so far. More than 15,000 students have enrolled through Tennessee Promise, a state initiative to send more high-school graduates to community college. The program pays for all tuition and fees that don’t get covered by federal aid, and has requirements for community service, a mentorship program, and a minimum GPA.
The program lasts for two years for community or technical college. Governor Bill Haslam has promoted it as a way to develop the workforce and help students acquire skills they need without going into debt.
To boost enrollment, the programs tend to work. Making college free will drive more students to attend, and some students to attend for a lower-than-anticipated cost. If enrollment is a goal, the initiatives work well, though it’s too early to tell whether higher graduation rates will be the result.
A similar program set to launch in Oregon next fall expects to attract about 10,000 students, and the Chicago’s Star Scholarship, promoted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has about 1,000 participants, the AP noted.
Republicans have been divided on the issue. Cost looms large. President Obama’s push for two years of free community college nationwide has been estimated at $60 billion, which makes some presidential candidates wary of the state-level plans. Comments from Jeb Bush during the Republican presidential debates have hinted at support for state-based plans, but he has yet to explicitly suggest or promote them.
Community college tuition and fees are much lower than traditional four-year colleges, but much of the uptick in student loan debt has been driven by community college students. Making community college free for students, even if those students didn’t graduate, could assuage the overall student debt burden. That cost would shift, however, to state budgets instead of the students.
There’s also the question of whether higher student enrollment is a benefit. Some evidence suggests that marginal students who are less likely to graduate doesn’t produce many benefits. Given that only 29 percent of students graduate within three years of enrolling in community college, making it free ignores a larger issue.
Some students inevitably drop out due to tuition prices, but prices at community college are not the primary driver of why more students don’t finish their degrees. Older students and part-time students are more likely not to complete their degrees, and making it free doesn’t necessarily address those deeper issues.
