It’s All About Education: Free College Tuition - Why Just Community College?

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Lauri Lee, GoLocalProv Education Expert

 

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Lauri Lee

President Obama’s proposal that two years of community college should be free for all students who maintain a minimum GPA of 2.5 is garnering a lot of attention. After all, the number of college students borrowing federal student loans to finance their education has increased by 69% over the past ten years, with the average student borrowing $29,400. In fact, according to a recent Pew study, 75% of all Americans believe that college is too expensive. More and more people are questioning the value proposition of a college education, wondering if they can get the job training and entrepreneurial skills they need without going into debt. 

What we seem to be forgetting is that there is a history of free university education in this country. My father attended the City College of New York, which was founded in 1847 to offer a free higher education for poor students, based on merit alone. The city of New York also offered free college educations to qualified students at Hunter College and Brooklyn College; together, the three eventually became known as the City University of New York. City University graduated ten Nobel Prize laureates, and notable graduates include former US Secretary of State Colin Powell and inventor of the polio vaccine Jonas Salk. The college remained free until 1976, when it began charging tuition. 

New York was not alone. The state of California offered free tuition to all of its residents at the University of California (originally consisting solely of the UC-Berkeley campus) at the time of its founding in 1868 through the next 100 years. The list of accomplishments and awards received by UC graduates who benefitted from this free education is staggering, but not surprising. Although out-of-state students always paid some tuition, it wasn’t until 1970 that California students were even required to pay a “educational fee.” Since then, state funding has decreased and student tuition has increased at an alarming rate each year; California residents now pay $12,972 per year in tuition. 

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Nowadays, a college that offers free tuition is something remarkable. US News & World Report provides a list of 11 free colleges for the 2014-2015 academic year: some require that students be residents of certain areas, some require work-study programs, and some are our nation’s military academies, requiring years of military service after graduation. All are highly competitive and selective, many with only 9% - 15% of applicants actually being accepted.  

In October 2014, the Washington Post published an article naming other countries where American students can attend college, in English, for free (or almost free). For example, the German government now covers the cost of a college education for all students who enroll – even if they are not German citizens. Finland also charges no tuition fees for its college students. For citizens of the European Union, France charges a nominal fee for its public university programs – approximately $200 per year. State universities in Brazil and Slovenia charge only nominal registration fees for students. Norway charges no fees for international students, while Sweden offers free PhD programs for its students. 

The United States likes to portray itself as the land of opportunity, a place where smart, ambitious, and driven individuals can overcome adversity to succeed in their chosen fields. But if this is the case, then why do we lag behind so many other developed countries in supporting our citizens’ pursuit of higher education? Many will argue that we cannot afford to provide a tuition-free college experience at our state schools. But a report released in 2011 showed that, if the state of California were to eliminate tuition fees for in-state students, it would cost only $3 billion – considerably less than the $11 billion loss proposed by gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, who wanted to eliminate the capital gains tax.  

President Obama’s plan is a start, but I don’t think it goes far enough. Instead, our federal government should be encouraging states to offer free in-state tuition at all of their public colleges, so that qualified students can earn a college degree without going into debt or depleting their families’ savings. In a small state like Rhode Island, there are three public colleges/universities: the University of Rhode Island (URI), Rhode Island College (RIC), and the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI). In-state tuition at the three is $10,878, $7,602, and $3,624; respectively. Free tuition for state residents would keep some of our best and brightest students here in Rhode Island, not only for their education, but also for their careers.  It seems like a winning proposition for all of us. 

Lauri Lee is an independent consultant with over twenty years of experience in both public and private education, with learners from infants through adults. With experience in marketing, communications, social media, development, admissions, and technology, she is able to synthesize many of the issues facing our educational system today. She lives in Providence with her family, a big dog, and a small cat. She encourages you to connect with her on Twitter @fridovichlee or to contact her directly at [email protected].

 

Related Slideshow: RI Experts on the Biggest Issues Facing Public Education

On Friday November 22, the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University, the Latino Policy Institute of Roger Williams University, the Rhode Island Association of School Committees, the Providence Student Union, and RI-CAN: Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now will host Rhode Island leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors for a symposium on "the civil rights issue of the 21st century, adequacy and equity and the State of Education in Rhode Island."

Weighing in on the the "three biggest factors" facing education in the state today are symposium participatnts Gary Sasse, Founding Director of the Hassenfeld Institute for Leadership; Christine Lopes Metcalfe, Executive Director of RI-CAN; Anna Cano-Morales, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, Central Falls Public Schools and Director, Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University; Tim Duffy, Executive Director, RI Association of School Committees; and Deborah Cylke, Superintendent of Pawtucket Public Schools.  

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Sasse

"Provide a state constitutional guarantee that all children will have access to  an education that will prepare them to meet high performance standards and be successful adults.

Bridge the gap between the educational achievement of majority and minority students.  This will require the implementation of a comprehensive agenda for quality education in Rhode Island’s inner cities."

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Sasse

"Revisit school governance and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the state, school districts , neighborhood schools, and school teachers and school administrators.  Develop and implement a system to hold schools responsible for student outcomes."

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Sasse

"Build a consensus and buy in of all stakeholders around  the education reform initiatives being advanced by the Board of Education."

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Metcalfe

"Set high expectations and raise our standards across the state for anyone that contributes to the success of our students. From adopting the Common Core to discussing rigorous teacher evaluations, conversations around creating a culture of high expectations have to be at the center of the work."

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Metcalfe

"Expand opportunities and start earlier - we must ensure that all kids have access to a high performing public school of their choice, which includes full-day kindergarten."

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Metcalfe

"School facilities - with an aging infrastructure, underutilized buildings and the need to provide fair funding for school facilities for all public school students regardless of the public school they attend, this needs to be a top issue tackled by the RI General Assembly in 2014."

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Cano-Morales

"Meet the academic potential of all students but especially with regards to urban schools students -- 3 out of 4 are Latinos in Providence, Central Falls, and Pawtucket." 

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Cano-Morales

"Connect through specific best practices the academic successes of our students to careers jobs. Investing in schools is economic development as a whole for Rhode Island. " 

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Cano-Morales

"Increase the access to -- and completion of -- higher education and post- secondary opportunities.  Poverty? Struggling families? Education and access to careers and competitive wages is the best antidote."

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Duffy

"Providing adequate funding is critical -- and there are going to be pressures on the state budget, which mean stresses to meet the education funding formula.  With the predictions of the state's projected loss of revenue with the casinos in MA, education funding could be on the cutting board, and we need to ensure that it's not.  Do we need to look at strengthening the language of the constitution to guarantee funding?"

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Duffy

"Implementing the common core standards will provide continuity -- and comparison -- between states now.  With over 40 states involved, we're embarking a new set of standards here."

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Duffy

"Accountability and assessing student performance -- how that it's driven by the common core, we'll be able to compare the best districts in RI against the best districts in say MA.  That's the intent of the Common Core is a standardization of how we hold the system accountable."

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Cylke

"Issue one is quality.  Your quality of education should not be dependent on your zip code.  And the reality is, certain cities are distressed, or whose property values are not as high, I know each town has a different capacity to fund education. There's an absolute, clear relationship between the quality of public schools, and economic development of states. There's irrefutable evidence that quality public schools can make states more competitive."

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Cylke

"Issue two is equality.  In West Warwick and Providence, the per pupil spending is around $16K.  In Pawtucket it's $12.9.  What's wrong with that picture? If I'm in charge of overseeing that my students are college ready, they need to be adequate funding.  A difference of $3000 per pupil?  We're talking in the tens of millions of dollars -- more like $25 million in this case.  An exemplary school district is Montgomery County, MD -- they have roughly the same number of students, around 145,000 -- there's one funding figure per pupil. There's equitable funding for all kids."

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Cylke

"Issue three is Infrastructure.  A critical issue is whether the state is going to lift its moratorium in 2014 for renovations for older schools, ore new construction.  If that moratorium is not lifted, and those funds are not available, it is critical to us here in Pawtucket. The average of my schools is 66 years, I've got 3 that celebrate 100 years this year. These old schools have good bones, but they need to be maintained.  These are assets -- and this is all interrelated with the funding formula."

 

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