Politico Morning Education reports that the movement to make community college tuition-freeis spreading.
“STATES PICKING UP FIGHT FOR FREE COLLEGE: The push for free college didn’t die when Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election in November. Rather, the movement championed by Democrats last year has maintained momentum in what has been a big year for free college advocates. At least five states, including some red ones, have adopted or expanded programs to cover tuition for students, and more could still win approval. “It was a huge year for the movement,” said Martha Kanter, a former Education undersecretary under Barack Obama who is now executive director of the College Promise Campaign, which helps build and expand tuition-free programs.
“- Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is expected to sign a bill soon expanding the state’s well-known free college program to older adults. The program is currently available only to students who just graduated from high school. Lawmakers in New York last month approved a plan to provide free public college for students from families making $125,000 a year or less. The Hawaii legislature provided funding for free community college, as well, and Arkansas and Indiana approved programs to waive tuition for students pursuing degrees in desirable fields such as those in science, technology, engineering and math (so-called STEM fields). A grant program to cover tuition for some college students won approval in Montana, though lawmakers have yet to allocate funding for it. Rhode Island could be next. Lawmakers there are considering a statewide free college proposal.”
This will help many students achieve at least two years of college without being burdened by heavy debt
Diane Ravitch's blog 
They will probably offer something similar to what Scott did in Florida. He challenged the state colleges to come up with $10,000 degree. Many of the colleges ignored him. My son who spent some time as a musician took one of these degrees. He is a late bloomer that happens to be bright. The degree is geared for self motivated students from middle class backgrounds. The degree was heavy on the cyber and hybrid courses. He has a BS in computers along with several Microsoft certifications, but he cannot find a job. He started his own business which gives him some money, but it’s far from being a viable career.
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I am a telecom engineer. I do some volunteer work with a non-profit job placement bureau. Our group could possibly assist your son, in his job search. Contact me, if you would like our help.
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I would not be surprised if the “free” is for the least expensive paths to some form of certificate or “badge” rather than a full degree. Cyber solutions are on the way every where along with a push to eliminate accreditations of programs.Part of that triage of postsecondary education is likely to happen if the pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 is developed as envisioned in the A proposed Senate bill and a copy-cat House bill titled the College Transparency Act of 2017.
The College Transparency Act of 2017 is envisioned as leading the nation’s college applicants and parents to a best-value “customer service” website that will show the user which postsecondary schools and programs, including specific majors, are likely to give you the best price and return on investment when you are employed as several time intervals after completing the program.
Here is the senate version of the proposed bill. If passed, I think it will set up a data dashboard that has the effect of steering students to studies that have economic value and downgrade programs that offer studies in the arts, humanities, social and civic services. All that matters is the economic worth of a credential and how efficient the program is moving students through it. The proposed legislation is the “dream come true” for Bill Gates–data, data, data. It is sad to see Elizabeth Warren supporting it. The ACLU and private colleges oppose it.
Click to access 2017_05_15_College_Transparency_Text.pdf
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Welcome to America in the 21st century . I do not believe it will get better either. The purpose of higher education has to be re-examined.
As long as students and parents see its purpose as a job ticket . Costs will keep rising with frustration and resentment as the quality of that degree diminishes. “How much is too much to pay for a ticket to success.”
I am not saying that higher education should not be pursued. As it went from a broad based goal of educating a whole person. A well rounded individual capable of learning an employers needs , who in general could not even select a major till the junior year, to highly specific certificate programs, It’s value has been diminished. As Krugman stated. “What if I get the education required go deep in debt, only to discover those jobs disappear as well” “Sympathy for the Luddites ”
Society’s goals should not be to create corporate drones to be disposed of when through with them and deeply in debt. In 1973 I graduated a Tuition free City University of NY and most State schools for in state residents had very low costs. We have transferred the costs as the economic value has diminished.
Even Cuomo’s new tuition plan is far from the merit based free tuition of CUNY till the seventies. Most of the middle class will be above the income cap in high wage, high rent, high tax down state NY. One of the great attractions of Social Security and Medicare is the lack of income eligibility caps.
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The New America stink tank anointed itself to write policy for higher ed., “Starting from Scratch or New Vision for Higher Ed.” (N.A. was funded by Gates, Lumina,….,)
The plan’s title reflects similarity to the Philanthropy Roundtable article written by an external affairs manager of a Gates-funded organization, in which reformers were quoted as saying, “We’ve got to blow up the ed. schools”. The Gates’ manager and, her co-author, Frederick Hess, refocused the detonation plan proposing that the rich direct universities from within with their donations.
It’s a violation of student trust for an institution to allow external gifts to trump the bulk of the institution’s revenues- student tuition and/or taxes.
.
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Linda
An assault as old as the Powell document . I have now come to terms with the phrase neo-liberal. it used to annoy the hell out of me to describe the free market policies of Thatcherism/Reagan-ism as liberal. I now call them neo-liberal right wing economic policies. Gates and the rest of the Philanthropy Roundtable are not liberals . As i have heard labor leaders plead with their members ; “it ain’t about God , Gays or Guns . Its the economy stupid”. Gate’s involvement is to be seen as a member of the Business Round-table whats in it for Bill.
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New America is run by a former executive in Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
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You can thank Congress for allowing US companies to replace US IT workers with foreigners under the H1b program.
Disney was one of the companies that has done so because they can hire the foreigners at a much cheaper price.
They even made their American workers train their replacements before they left.
60 minutes did a piece a few months ago on the H1b visa scam. It is completely out of control.
And Obama did not do Jack about it. In fact, he signed an executive order in 2015 that actually made it worse by making it easier for H1b workers to extend their work permits and get green cards.
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agreed
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Sanders had an immigration speech on the senate floor quite to that point . That i can no longer find it posted is very annoying.
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Good piece on Florida charter schools, and which legislators are making money off them:
https://miamiherald.relaymedia.com/amp/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fabiola-santiago/article151418277.html
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Completely free public college is good. But when it’s done partially, you have to ask the following questions.
1) Is it possible that to make community colleges free, money is taken away from the budget and student aid of 4 year colleges?
2) Is it possible that if only community colleges are made free then the enrollment of 4 year colleges go down, reducing their budget, hence making them weaker, more vulnerable to decrease their quality?
3) Is it possible that if only community colleges are free then students who otherwise would have chosen a 4 year college decide to go to a 2 year college instead?
4) Is it possible that to address the problem in 3), a state government will tell students that they will make it easier for them to go to a 4 year college from a 2 year by forcing to lower the standards of 4 year colleges?
5) Is it possible that in some states 2 year community and technical colleges have “ties” with private companies, and the state, by making these colleges tuition free, actually are training workers for these private companies for free, using tax payers’ money?
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Very thought out questions! Another to add is the “free” factor. Nothing in life is free…. so where are they robbing Peter to pay Paul?
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Well, reality is behind those questions: I teach at a 4 year college in TN. And I am grateful that I graduated from a free college 30 years ago. Clearly that’s the way to go. But …
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The NY Times recently had a nice article on the Tennessee plan. According to another article, 80% of New York households would qualify for the tuition plan. I agree it doesn’t go far enough, but free college was a dream just a short time ago. Now we have to tackle the even bigger problem of massive student loan debt.
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The self-anointed at the Gates/Lumina-funded New America wrote a policy plan for higher ed., “Starting from Scratch…”
Employee opinions about N.A., posted at Glassdoor, speak of diversity issues, elitism and an internal environment that contradicts rhetoric.
It appalls me that the disgruntled employees don’t mention the wrongness of the incursion of oligarch-funded think tanks into government policy. The concept of democracy is apparently ignored everywhere in D.C..
The line between lobbyists and think tanks is what?
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From Salon
http://www.salon.com/2017/05/20/booing-betsy-devos-is-not-enough-face-it-we-have-all-failed-our-universities/
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I am delighted that the states are expanding these programs. Not every can go to a 4-year college, and for many a community college is an excellent alternative. Bravo!
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