America’s College Promise modeled on a Tennessee program.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed making community college free “for everybody who is willing to work for it.”
Under the program, called America’s College Promise, an estimated 9 million students per year could benefit.
According to Cecilia Muñoz, the White House’s domestic policy director, Obama’s ambitious goal is “to make two years of college the norm — the way high school is the norm.”
If the plan was enacted, students would be eligible for free tuition if they attend at least half-time, maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or higher, and “make steady progress toward completing a program.”
Funding for the program would come from the federal government and participating states, but the president mentioned neither the cost nor how it would ultimately be financed.
America’s College Promise takes its design cues from Tennessee’s free community college program, called the Tennessee Promise, which will be available to students graduating high school in 2015. The educational directive has attracted 58,000 applicants, which is about 90 percent of the state’s high school seniors — more than twice the projected numbers.
Despite showing early promise, the Tennessee Promise has come under fire by critics who accuse it of being structured to benefit middle-income students more than the actual neediest.
According to The New York Times, it is designed as a “last dollar” scholarship, paying only for tuition costs not covered by other programs. A low-income student who is eligible for a maximum Pell Grant of $5,730 would not receive assistance under the Tennessee Promise, because that amount would already cover community college tuition. However, a more affluent student could get full tuition paid by the program.
Contrarily, President Obama’s plan would cover tuition costs up front, White House officials stated.