Americas College Promise

Kelly Britton

America’s College Promise

President^[a] Obama says students shouldn't have to pay tuition while in community college if they are willing to work for that although this is a great and a beneficial idea it's unrealistic and can hinder students all over. Over time as the need for education has grown, higher burdens have been placed on those who can least afford: students and working families. Students leave college with debts greater than a down payment on a house that more often than not takes them a long time to pay off after they have graduated. President Obama takes a trip to Tennessee to propose an idea inspired by similar programs in Tennessee and Chicago that is flawed in more ways than one.

After President Obama was teased all over social media about his proposal for community college students in the future on January 8, 2015 he decided to take his proposal to Tennessee at Pellissippi State Community College .President Obama says the plan is for students who attend community college that maintain a 2.5 GPA would be able to have their tuition eliminated. “America’s College Promise” is modeled after a Tennessee program (called “Tennessee Promise”), which covers the cost of community college tuition not covered by grants and scholarships. It also requires the student to have a mentor, perform eight hours of community service per term, and maintain a 2.0 GPA” (Steinmetz). President Obama talks about how the federal government would cover three-quarters of the average cost of community college tuition, while states that choose to participate in the program would pitch in the remaining funds. This plan is unrealistic because “... it has been estimated that “America’s College Promise” would save students approximately $3,800 per year in tuition, with as many as nine million Americans benefiting from it” (Osterndorf). If up to nine million students are in college and maintaining a 2.5 GPA the amount of money that the government and the participating states are going to have to pay will be ridiculously high it would cost the federal government about $60 billion over the next decade, which could cover about three-quarters of the program’s cost. The remaining balance would need to be covered by the states^[b].” (Steinmetz^[c]) and realistically it's not going to happen. Obama says that our educational system has issues it’s essential to remember that America’s education issues cannot be solved just by taking away tuition from community college students. There are other issues that are not related to tuitions costs at all that still needs to be addressed and worked on as well.

Giving American students two free years of college could not only fix some problems but it can also create some as well for example, “... the program could end up doing more for less needy students than those who need it the most...” (Osterndorf). Students who are low-income may be already covered by by grants and financial aid so technically they are already receiving free tuition because they aren't paying for it out of pocket. Also, “... providing two years of community college for free is still likely to shake up the credit systems that are in place, making it more challenging for universities to accept transfer students who want to continue their education.” (Osterndorf). Many students start off at community colleges with high hopes to continue their education at a four year after they finish community college but it's more than

likely that its gonna be harder for schools to transfer these credits to the next school. If students can't have their credits transfer over to their next school then is this really worth it?

President Obama hasn't released any specifics to how he’s going to make this plan come to life. This makes it hard for people to be fully on board with this plan whether they fully or partially support what the President is doing. “Many of the state’s community college leaders said they generally back Obama’s proposal and are hopeful it will someday become a reality, but they also want to see more specifics before signing on fully, including what, if any, effect it would have on funding for federal Pell Grant need-based scholarships.” (Rocheleau). “Students need to plan for college enrollment and save as much money as possible... noting that it will likely be years before the president's plan becomes a reality.”(Sheehy)^[d] Students need to save for if this proposal becomes reality because although tuition is a huge chunk of where the money goes to it's only part of the overall expenses. This proposal has also raised questions such as if this proposal becomes reality how do we keep it going? Or what happens when the next President or congress has to make budget cuts? Or What happens if and when the next recession happens? (Rocheleau). Will we be able to keep this program going or will it be over before it even starts? There are so many aspects and details of the proposal that have yet to be discussed.

Many people say that the President’s proposal is extremely beneficial to college student who are going to attend community college for two year because their tuition will be free the whole time they are there as long as they can maintain a 2.5 GPA. That it can benefit about nine million students by eliminating an average of $3,800 in tuition. “ A free option would almost certainly boost enrollment rates... Free college proponents have argued that since the feds are kicking in money directly, they’ll have more power to push community colleges to get better.” (Kelly^[e]).^[f][g] Although this sounds legit it’s going to be hard to ensure that the students are still going to receive a quality education like they would when they paid for it for the price they are going to charge. They say while it's too early to predict if and how America's College Promise will come to fruition, things look positive from a student's perspective, ^[h](Sheehy). In more ways than one President's Obama’s plan is flawed and can hinder students instead of benefiting them. It has also been said that “... if Obama’s proposal became a reality, it could transform the lives of prospective students who never enroll in school, and those who drop out, for financial reasons… You would see a lot more students in community college and graduating if it was free” (Rocheleau). Although this may be true these are just some small benefits compared to all the issues that this proposal could cost if this was to become a reality.