President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed making community college free to all students nationwide, in effect expanding government-funded education to encompass the years from kindergarten through a two-year degree.
Obama made the announcement in a video that was posted to Facebook on Thursday. “I’d like to see the first two years of community college free for everyone who is 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.”
The plan, however, faces an uphill battle in a Republican-controlled Congress that is already at odds with the president over other spending issues. The concept is likely to be formally be released in Obama’s 2016 budget proposal, due out in February.
Cory Fritz, press secretary to House Speaker John Boehner (R, Ohio) says that the plan may ultimately fall through.
“With no details or information on the cost, this seems more like a talking point than a plan,” Fritz said.
The administration declined to release the overall cost of the plan at this time and instead plans to disclose details in coming weeks. Federal funds would cover three-quarters of the average cost of tuition, and states would have some responsibility to provide matching funds under the plan.
According to the American Association of Community Colleges, there are approximately eight million students in U.S. community colleges. Those who attend full time pay an average tuition of $3,800 a year.
The proposal is mainly addressed towards Americans who look to a college degree as a ticket to the middle class but may not be able to afford one.
“This will basically make community college like high school in terms of access,” said David Baime, vice president for government relations at the American Association of Community Colleges. “This is a proposal of historical proportions and could dramatically increase access to community college.”
However, Baime acknowledges that the proposal will have a tough time in Congress.
“We think this will be popular with a lot of legislators, but Congress is not in the mode of creating large new programs,” said Baime.
