Imagine going to college for 2 years for free if you just had to keep good grades. Sounds simple enough and that’s exactly what the White House is trying to to. On Thursday, President Barack Obama announced a proposal where two years of free tuition would be granted to students attending community college. In a video message filmed while aboard Air Force One, Obama stated,
Put simply, what I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everyone who’s willing to work for it.
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More details will emerge on Friday while Obama visits Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee. Under the proposal, students would maintain a grade point average of 2.5 and schools participating must meet certain academic criterias. White House Domestic Policy Direct, Cecilia Munoz told Time, the plan would be a federal-state partnership where the federal funding would cover foot 75 percent of tuition costs and states participating in the plan would pick up the remaining portion. According to the White House estimates, the program would save community college students $3800 a year. Munoz stated:
This is a moment that is equivalent to the moment when we made high school universal.
Obama’s plan will face serious opposition from the Republican controlled Congress. Cory Fritz, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner released a statement saying:
With no details or information on the cost, this seems more like a talking point than a plan.
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