'Approved': White House Proposal for Universal Access to College
Suze Orman
Bestselling Author | Host of the Women & Money Podcast | Co-Founder of SecureSave
President Obama has announced a plan that would pay for 100 percent of the tuition for anyone who wants to attend a community college (and who can commit to remain on course to graduate from the two-year program in three years and maintain a 2.5 grade point average).
Essentially this proposal would extend our nation’s universal education system from K-12 to K-Associate’s Degree. I seriously Approve.
We all know that a high school degree is not enough to succeed in our globally competitive world. Yet we also know from the obscene levels of student debt that the cost of a four-year degree is far too steep for many. One of the key provisions of the proposal in my opinion is that to participate, a community college would have to ensure its credits are transferable to a four-year school. So if this proposal was passed, it would effectively reduce the cost of a four-year degree — students with a community college degree could then leverage that by needing less than four years to continue on and complete a bachelor’s degree.
Not only could this community college proposal reduce the cost of obtaining a four-year degree, there is also a significant earnings power argument to create universal community college coverage.
In 2013 the median weekly wages for someone with a two-year associate’s degree from a community college or vocational school was 20 percent higher than the weekly wage of a high school grad. Talk about a return on investment for students if this new proposal was approved: Get a degree from a community college for free, and make 20 percent more on average than if you just stopped with the high school diploma. The biggest payoff is if the community college grad then continues on to get a bachelor’s degree: median weekly wages for workers with a bachelor’s degree is about 40 percent higher than wages for the community-college grad, and 70 percent higher than the pay a high school grade can expect.
Yes, I realize this proposal has little chance of making much headway in a Republican-controlled Congress. And there may be state pushback as well, given that this proposal calls for states to cover 25 percent of the cost after the federal government picks up 75 percent of the tab. There’s also the issue of supply and demand. More demand for community college classes without increasing community college budgets will exacerbate an all-too-common problem: not enough classes and teachers to accommodate student demand, forcing students onto wait lists for the next semester or beyond.
But I applaud the White House for putting it on the agenda; and you never know, it may spur some compromise that increases accessibility to higher education. That’s a big win.
I recently sat down with LinkedIn Executive Editor Dan Roth to discuss my solutions to student debt.
International Sales Specialist / Radio talk show host
9 年Taxpayers should not be responsible for people who lack innovative ways to pay for school.Nothing is free. Let your friend Oprah pay for them
Staunch constitutional conservative, and proud President Trump supporter. #MAGA2024 #BACKTHEBLUE #BACKTHERED #BACKTHEGREEN
9 年Sorry, Rosa M. but I must disagree. Our parents and grandparents put themselves through college. College is expensive. But if you want something badly enough you save for it. When you land that dream career you pay your college debt off; bit by bit; like saving, getting and then paying for that dream car. For the low income there are always Pell grants. Let's not forget them scholarships. If you serve your country your college is paid for. Anyway I would rather we spend money on our military. It is more important to keep this country safe. Safety first. But, I digress.
Broadband Consultant
9 年The Govt. has had blinders on for years. Keep throwing money at education. Not all kids are book smart. The result is more and more non accredited & on line universities. These educational companies are making huge profits on our tax dollars. To often these kids find many hiring managers dismiss these "so called" degrees so they are no further to finding employment. We need to get back to the Reagan days when small businesses could hire and provide OJT and the Govt. would reimburse portions of the salary paid to the worker. Doing this we kill two birds one stone. They have jobs and learn skills.